Project Kingdom Hearts Sequel
by Venjess
Summary: It's the long awaited sequel to the original Project Kingdom Hearts! Memory loss is a pain deal with and Sora has to deal with more than just that irritating problem. When he runs into familiar faces and hears familiar names, what will he do when he remembers it all? When the Organisation comes after him again, how will he react? Rated T for violence. Genres may change.
1. Forgotten Past

**Hello! Yup! I finally did it, a sequel to Project Kingdom Hearts, and personally, I think this one is better written.**

**Also, look! it's a longer chapter! Who knows if I'll be able to make them all this long (I reckon I'll try my best though)?**

**I was kinda tossing up whether or not to write this but... yeah. This is a bit of a teaser so you can have some sort of idea what to expect. I have a lot of stuff planned so...**

**But, I don't know how quickly I'll be able to udate so...**

**Sora: So you're going to give them a chapter, then like... not do anything for a year?**

**Not for ****_that_**** long**

**Sora: Eleven months then.**

**:O ... T**

**Sora: Jessica doesn't own me or Kingdom Hearts or... really anything to do with this story except the idea itself. And the writing... basically just the bad stuff XD**

**Whatever... (by the way, just realised I didn't have those little italic things at the beginning like I did for PKH, so I'm just putting them in now)**

* * *

**Chapter One: Forgotten Past**

_'You want to remember… but maybe you forgot for a reason?'_

Sora had been half anticipating, half dreading his return to school. His parents had put it off for some time, in the hope that maybe, with enough rest, he would be able to remember what had happened in the six months he had gone missing. There was no such luck however. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to remember anything beyond a few flashes that left him feeling more confused- and scared- than before.

It was like there was some kind of wall, holding the memories back.

Sometimes, he wondered if he would really be better off remembering.

The last thing he _could_ remember was when he had been walking home. He had just spent the day with some friends, they had gone to the beach and Sora had gotten really sunburnt…

* * *

_He walked past a field and heard someone talking; curious, he stopped for a few moments to listen, hearing vague snatches of the conversation, "oh yes… you're growing splendidly… proud… good job…" wondering who on earth this person could be talking to- with a desire to put off going back home to another boring night since Vanitas was spending time with some friends- Sora headed off the road and into the field._

_Sora lived on an island that was connected to the mainland by a strip of beach so- during low-tide- one could walk across from the island to the mainland and vice versa. Not many people lived on the small island, and not too many people visited either. The most famous person to ever visit their small island had been a friend of the mayor- a powerful member of the political party and a revered and respected scientist- Mr. X-something-Sora-couldn't-remember Darke._

_The islanders were very much country people, and they all looked forward to Mr. Darke's visits, as he often bought ideas that seemed so advanced and wonderful, it awed those around who heard of them, unable to believe such a concept as the one the man was describing at the time could ever exist._

_Sora was just like the others, so it was a source of pride- something that he bragged about endlessly to his friends- that he had actually had a chance to meet the man. He had been alone; practising his magic- though he wasn't sure that was the right word for it- manipulating the light around him, it never ceased to entertain him, doing this. He heard a sound behind him and turned to see the man walk out from the shadows, there was a strange look on his face and for a moment, Sora was scared the grey-haired man had seen him. But then the man smiled and Sora stopped worrying. He had bent down and asked in a friendly tone, "so, what's your name then?" and despite feeling vaguely like a five-year-old from the form the question had been put into, Sora answered with a smile. Admittedly, the conversation hadn't gone on for too long. But it didn't change the fact that it __**had**__ happened, and all his friends had been amazed and jealous about his good luck._

_Naturally he omitted what he had been doing before the man arrived- he didn't know why, but he had never felt comfortable telling anyone about his affinity for light. Except for his older brother. But Vanitas had kept the secret close to himself, and not told anyone about it either._

_It was a fairly obvious move to not mention the magic part to his friends._

_He also didn't mention that when the man smiled, Sora had felt slightly sick. Like some kind of premonition of danger about the man._

_He didn't even tell Vanitas about that bit._

_After all, it was probably nothing, right?_

* * *

_As it was, there was still a great deal of country side on the island, if country side was the right word to describe it as. When Sora had gone to the beach with his friends-not too long after the run-in with Mr. Darke- he had been able to simply walk there from home, as had his friends, though his house was the furthest. He had arrived in the morning with the distinct feeling of being watched, but in light of the day's events, he quickly forgot about it. Heading home though, after separating from his friends, Sora felt the feeling increase._

_When he reached the field though, he relaxed, because he knew his home was just over the hill and the feeling of being watched was gone. He began wondering what he was going to do while his older brother- Vanitas- was hanging out with friends. He wouldn't really have anyone to talk to- though, admittedly, sometimes talking to Vanitas wasn't all too easy to talk to anyway- since his mother was usually preoccupied and his father busy with work._

_Summarised, he wasn't looking forward to going home, he would rather hang around outside for a bit longer, even though the memory of those eyes was still there. He could take the bogey-man or vampires or whatever monster you wanna name (bring it on!) but the one thing Sora could not stand was boredom. But if he didn't have a good excuse as to why he was home late, his mother wouldn't give him any dinner, and if there was one thing that Sora hated as much as being bored, it was not being able to eat when he was really hungry (which, to be honest, was almost always)._

_So when he heard the talking, even though it sounded somewhat like the rambling of a deluded stranger, Sora took it as an excuse and investigated, heading towards the sound, off the road, over the fence, into the field. Into the dark._

_He walked for a few minutes, heading towards the gradually growing sound. He saw some movement ahead and paused, some rustling, more speaking, "you are all so beautiful! Daddy is so proud!" and a flash of… pink?_

_Sora frowned, deciding that whoever wore pink couldn't be that scary or dangerous of a person. So he walked forward and saw a man kneeling over a group of flowers. Sora couldn't be sure as the man was kneeling, but he looked to be of average- bordering on maybe a little tall- height, with a fairly muscular body. Of course, the somewhat foreboding presence he might have given off due to the time, place and lighting was somewhat dulled by the fact that he had long, pink hair and was… in fact… talking… to the flowers._

_As it was, Sora found himself not so much concerned for his own safety, but for the man's mind. So he stepped forward and knelt next to the man, wondering how he should ask where he was from; whether the mysterious- and quite possibly crazy- man was lost._

_Before he could say anything though, the pink-haired man turned away from the flowers- with evident reluctance- and asked him, "can I help you?" Sora started, surprised at how normal the man was able to sound- though he still looked weird- it made him pause for a moment, before hesitantly replying, "I was walking by and I heard you talking and… I was… curious." Realising this may make him sound like some kind of eaves-dropper Sora hurriedly apologised, "I-I'm sorry! If you were doing something private I… I should have just left you alone!"_

_He made to leave but was stopped by the man's next words, "that's alright, I suppose since you're here already, and you seem a nice lad. My name's Marluxia, sit down and I'll show you something." When Sora hesitantly seated himself, the man- Marluxia- asked him, "what's your name?" Sora hesitated before replying, he knew the whole stranger-danger rule, but this man seemed to bear no ill-intent, "I'm Sora." Marluxia smiled in a satisfied manner, as though had been what he had been hoping for, but Sora didn't dwell on it too long as the pink-haired man distracted him once more._

_"Do you believe in magic, Sora?" Sora's eyes widened, there was a strange sense of meaning in the man's tone, as though he was talking about more than just that abstract form of fairies and pixie-dust. As though he was talking about the type of magic Sora could do._

_Eyes wide, he nervously nodded his head, to which the man smiled in response. Marluxia raised his hand and gestured at the flowers next to him, taking them in with one sweep of his arm, and before Sora's astonished eyes, they began to grow, pulling towards the sky, leaves growing, petals unfurling and buds spreading out. It was amazing to watch._

_After a few moments they stopped and Sora turned back to look at the man with new-found respect in his eyes. "Can you do something like that, Sora?" Sora smiled, delighted that there was someone else he could be safe with sharing his secret with, "mine's not as impressive as that," he admitted regretfully. Marluxia shook his head, "I'm sure it is," he seemed really eager to see Sora's magic, but at the time, neither the strange behaviour nor the tone registered in Sora's mind._

_He stretched out a hand, and quickly, a ball of light grew from it, lighting up the deepening dark around them like a beacon, creating a sharp contrast between the two. When the light dimmed and faded away, Sora looked around him, surprised at how dark it had become. He knew his mother would be worrying about him so he stood up, turning to Marluxia, unsure what to say._

_It turns out he didn't have to say anything as the pink-haired man spoke first, "I'm glad I got the right one, I was worried for a moment that you weren't the one I had been sent to find." Before Sora could ask, or even wonder at that sentence, he felt a sharp pain to the side of the temple- which he guessed afterwards, must have meant he'd been hit quite hard there- before everything went dark._

* * *

_The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital, looking around confused, then his parents and brother rushing in, hugging him and asking him where he had been for six months._

* * *

Sora had told the police about the encounter with the man, leaving out only the part about magic, which he confided to Vanitas about later. Vanitas summarised that the man Marluxia must have somehow found out about his magic, and come after that, though his overall goal would remain unknown until Sora could remember what had happen in the six months he had been with the man.

Later, after investigating the name and the description, the police had come up with a suspect, and had shown Sora a picture of a younger-looking version of the person he had seen in the fields. Excitedly, he had confirmed that that had been the person, and hadn't understood the policeman's defeated expression until they had explained. This particular man- or rather, teenager, as he had been in the photos- has been missing for nearly five years now. Up until now, they had believed him to have been murdered, the fact that Sora saw him showed that either the man had not only survived, but either escaped his kidnappers or- worse still- joined them. Despite the new knowledge on the old case, it didn't help the problem of finding the man for the time being. So until they found any new evidence, the investigation was at a standstill.

In the end, he didn't go back to school until the next year, since he would have had to have started in the final term, and he would have missed out on too much. So instead, he was repeating a year to make up for the lost one.

He was upset about not being able to spend time with his friends- different year levels weren't even allowed to sit together, and they wouldn't have any classes together since they would have moved up to the next year- but Sora understood the importance of learning, even if he didn't like it.

On the first day of school, he got ready quickly- even managing to get out of bed early for once- his mother fussed over him, wanting to walk him to school, wanting to make sure he had everything. T was as though it was his first day of school, all over again. But he understood her fretting, so he endured it good-naturedly, and after finally convincing his mother that 'no, I don't need to be walked to school' 'yes, I do have everything' and 'no, I promise I won't talk to pink-haired men while I'm out' he was finally able to go, walking out with his backpack over his shoulder, and the chain swinging around his neck.

He actually had two necklaces on his person; one was a crown, this he had had for years, a gift from his older brother when he was five. He almost never took it off.

The other was a mystery; he didn't know where it came from. All he knew was that when he looked at the two intricately styled keys hanging off it, he felt a sense of importance, as though there was some memory held there that he shouldn't' have forgotten. When he had first looked at them, strangely enough, the words 'Oathkeeper' and 'Oblivion' had come into his mind. And he had decided they were the perfect name for these keys- though why he needed to name the keys he still didn't know. Other than the names and the sense of importance, Sora could only guess at the strange necklace. He was aware he must have gotten it at some point during those six months he was missing. How, he had no idea.

Shrugging his shoulder and putting all thoughts of jewellery and forgotten pasts out of his mind, Sora headed off to school.

* * *

Sora had always been a friendly person, combined with the fact that many people wanted to talk to him about his 'terrifying experience' (despite the fact that he couldn't really remember any of the 'terrifying' parts) he managed to make friends easily.

Soon enough, he was sitting with a group of people and talking and laughing to them as naturally as he would his other friends. Not too long before class started, he caught a glimpse of spiked, blonde hair and instinctively looked in the direction he had seen it.

His eyes landed on a boy, about his height, who looked remarkably similar to him, minus the hair. The boy had the same chubby, childish face, and even blue eyes, though they were a different shade. His hair however, was a blinding blonde, and rose up in spikes- like Sora's- to one side of his head- unlike Sora's, whose hair simply stuck up all over the place- giving the impression of an extreme case of bed head.

Seeing the boy was like a punch to gut and blow to the head, images flashed through his mind and he tried to desperately figure out why the blonde looked so familiar. There was an insistent tugging at the back of his mind, and it felt like something was breaking, "hey, are you okay? You look a bit sick." Sora looked up hazily from where he had been leaning against his desk, and managed a small grin, nodding in confirmation, "yeah, I'm fine, just got a bit of a headache all of a sudden." Before any of his friends could ask if he would like to go to the nurse's office, Sora gestured towards the blonde who was talking and laughing with a few other people, "who's that?" looking at him strangely- no doubt wondering why he was randomly asking about the identity of someone in the class when he looked like he was about to throw up- one of them answered, "he's actually a lot like you, personality-wise, and look-wise it would seem,

"That's Ventus."

* * *

**So... wow... stuff's happening, hmm.**

**And Marluxia is a creepy kidnapper like... wut.**

**I almost feel sorry for poor Sora...**

**Then again, Roxas got nabbed by ****_Xaldin_**** so maybe not...**

**Sora: Who's Roxas? And who's Xaldin? Those names sound kinda familiar...**

**Yup, memory loss ****_sucks_****.**

**Sora: You could just have me magically remember everything again *hopeful smile***

**Hmm... nope... for the sake of the plot I shall make you suffer, thank you for your selfless sacrifice.**

**Sora: *whines* you're not even giving me a choice in the matter!**

**True... you don't thank someone if they had to do it.**

**Anyway, if you guys review enough, then I'll upload another chapter!**

**And no... you can't do a Bec where you make one review per word... that's cheating.**


	2. Haunts From The Past

**Okay... here's my end of the bargain Bec, a chapter two, for your chapter two.**

**Um... for the record, I decided to just make Sora's friends a bunch of OCs (including myself) because it was just a bit simpler. But I get the feeling that they're a bit OOC, I'm pretty sure I even made myself OC... though I'm not entirely sure why.**

**Anyway, big surprise for all of you in this one, haha!**

**Sora: I love surprises! XD**

**Yeah... I don't know how great this surprise will be... well... it is a good surprise but... for certain reasons, it is definitely not.**

**Sora: Uh...huh... So what was the deal with Bec?**

**She wrote this awesome fanfic (you should read it, her penname's AkuBeku), and I was like, for every chapter you upload, I'll upload a chapter, so now she's uploaded three chapters and I'm like... yeah, I'm uploading one now, but I can't upload the next until she tells me something, so...**

**Sora: Okay then... well, you're working more on this than I initially thought**

**Yup**

**Sora: Jessica doesn't own me or Ventus or Kingdom Hearts or really any of the OCs because they're all based off her friends**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Haunts From The Past**

_'You know they are important… but just how is that so?'_

Sora had been trying to work out how to approach Ven for about half the day now, he wanted to find out if the blonde knew anything about the missing six months, but he couldn't just go up to him and ask him it out of the blue, could he?

Sora turned to the most responsible person in their group, "hey, Atsuko, if you wanted to ask someone something, but it was something that that someone might find somewhat weird, how would you go about leading up to that something if you've never spoken to that someone in your life?" The brunette blinked very deliberately at Sora's confusing choice of words, "for some reason, I get reminded of Winnie the Pooh when you say it like that," she muttered, before raising her voice to answer his question, "honesty is usually the best answer, isn't it? Trying to manoeuvre around the truth will rarely get you anywhere."

Sora frowned, "I'm not sure this is something I can just come out and say to him," Atsuko sighed, "well, I can't really give you any proper advice if I don't know what it is you want to talk to him about, sorry, I guess, if that doesn't work, you could just start off with introducing yourself, talk a bit about yourself and try to lead the conversation towards the topic you wanted to initially talk about."

Sora thought about that, "then what topic should I start with?" Atsuko gave him a look that clearly stated 'I don't know unless you tell me what you want to actually talk about'. Sora chuckled sheepishly, "right, never mind, I'll figure it out, thanks."

The bell rang for lunch and the teacher dismissed the class; Sora got to his feet and gathered up his stuff, after putting it all in his locker, he thought about what Atsuko had said, "I guess just trying to make friends with him would be a good start." He muttered to himself, that decided he went to go find Ventus.

* * *

After talking to the blonde for about five minutes, Sora decided that he probably didn't know anything about his past. He was disappointed, but he enjoyed talking to Ventus anyway, so it wasn't a total lost, it just meant he'd have to find out about his past a different way, _'maybe certain things will trigger it? When I first saw Ventus I remembered a few things, namely a boy who looked just like him, but acted differently… what was his name, I wonder?'_ without thinking, Sora pulled the necklace out from where it had been tucked into his shirt, like some subconscious part of his mind had identified a connection between the two.

Before he could think about that, he heard a strange, half-strangled noise come from Ventus. Confused, he glanced up at the necklace to see a somewhat shell-shocked expression on the boy's face. He moved to tuck the necklace back into his shirt, intending to check what was wrong, but before he could, the blonde reached and grabbed his hand, the one holding the necklace out.

Sora looked Ventus in surprise, the expression was ignored as the other boy gazed intently at the necklace, examining it, in a soft voice, he asked the brunette, "Where did you get this?"

Sora pulled away, confused by the other's reaction, "I don't remember," he told the other, "something happened six months ago and apparently I disappeared, but I don't remember what happened, I think I must have come by this in those six months because I didn't have it before then."

Ventus stared at the boy for some time before pulling out a chain and showing it to Sora, he instantly zeroed in on the key that hung from the chain. He looked at the two keys on his chain in confusion, though they each had a different design, it was easy to tell they had been made by the same person, or at least, with a similar style.

"I had a twin, younger than me by a few minutes, he went missing many years ago, as it is, I've forgotten a lot of things about him, and I wish I remembered more, I've missed him a lot. It's different to just losing a brother, I think, at least, for me it was, we had always been exceptionally close. The one time our dad came to visit us; he decided to make us both a present. He carved out two keys of unique design, before hanging them on a chain and giving them to my twin. He carved another key for me, but ended up leaving before he could do a second. There isn't another key like the three he made for us, they're each unique and one-of-a-kind, he had said so himself."

Sora looked down at the necklace again, he could guess where this was going, "this… is your twin's necklace, isn't it?" he asked softly, hesitantly. Ventus tightened the grip on his necklace, nodding, "yeah, I'm fairly certain it is."

Sora shook his head, "I'm sorry, as I said, I don't remember what happened, so if you're going to ask me if I know what happened to him, I won't have an answer for you." Ventus sighed, but before he could reply, someone pushed past them, affectively cutting off their conversation. The boy stopped and turned back, "oh, sorry about that!" he called out to them, Sora glanced over at him, he looked to be in a few levels higher than them, he had- oddly enough- bright, red hair, green eyes and two teardrop tattoos, one under each eye. As the boy turned and walked off, Sora felt a piercing pain attack his head, he bent over and clutched at his chest, _'why do I feel like I want to cry?'_ he wondered, screwing his eyes shut, _'do I know that guy?'_

"Hey, are you okay?" he heard someone ask, he straightened a little and saw another red-head- this time a girl- looking at him worriedly, "do you need to go to the nurse?" she asked, and just like that, the feeling increased, Sora wanted to vomit, _'maybe I __**should**__ go to the nurse,'_ he wondered dazedly, but he had a feeling it was like what had happened to him when he had first seen Ventus, he wanted to sort through the images flashing through his mind, but he couldn't do that with her standing there, so he waved her off, "I'm fine, don't worry about me," he forced out and after a moment's hesitation, the girl nodded and ran off after the other boy.

The headache and nausea gradually cleared and Sora stood up straight again, leaning against the wall, "what happened there?" Ventus asked him worriedly, "are you sure everything's ok?" Sora nodded, "yeah, I, uh… I sometimes get headaches now," he paused, wondering how much he should tell the blonde before explaining briefly, "I think it might be old memories coming through."

Ventus nodded, "so, do you want to go the sickbay or anything then? I can take you if you feel it's necessary," Sora hesitated, he didn't want to end up going to see the nurse on his first day of school, but he didn't exactly feel up to lessons at the moment, and the bell was about to ring. He nodded his head, smiling sheepishly, "I think I will, but you don't have to take me or anything, I can go by myself, Ventus." Then he paused, remembering the necklace, "that's right, do you want the necklace? If it belonged to your brother then-" he was cut off by Ventus shaking his head, "nah, it's okay, I don't mind taking you to see the nurse, and regarding the necklace, well, I'd like to believe that my brother gave it to you himself, at the least, you have it for a reason, so I think you deserve to get to keep a hold of it. Just make sure you take good care of it, and try to remember if you ever met my brother, 'kay?" Sora nodded, then paused, "actually, I do remember sitting on a clock tower at sunrise, with a boy that looked a lot like you, but he seemed a lot more quiet and sad, I have a few other vague memories about him, but not really anything specific, like when or where I saw him, sorry."

Ventus' eyes widened and he stilled, before a soft smile spread across his face, leaning back against the wall and covering his eyes with his hands, he whispered in a voice filled with utter relief, "so he really is alive, huh? My little brother's still alive, after all these years, th-thanks… Sora," the brunette hesitated, unsure what to say to the blonde, they were both silent for a few moments, then the bell rang. The two looked up towards the sound, and students started heading to class. When Sora turned back to the other boy, he was his smiley, cheerful self once more, "let's take you to sickbay then, Sora." He told the brunette, before grabbing his arm and dragging him off towards the end of the building, "and Sora?" said boy glanced over at the blonde, "yeah?" "Just call me Ven, all my friends do."

* * *

Sora lay on one of the beds in sickbay, the mattress wasn't exactly soft, and the lights were bright and hurt his eyes, but it still helped a little, and he was able to sort out his thoughts.

_'So I met Ven's missing twin, huh? Does that mean that whatever happened to me, happened to him?'_ Of course, trying to work out how he knew Ven's twin was just one problem, it explained why he had thought the blonde had looked familiar, but what about those other two? The red-heads, he felt indescribably sad when he thought about them, and he had a feeling that seeing them at school was meant to be impossible, though he didn't know why.

He thought of fire, when he thought back to the boy, and when he thought of the girl, for some reason, his heart constricted and he felt kind of… strange. He didn't understand what either of those two things meant, and trying to think about it was making his head ache worse.

"So what are you in here for?" He heard someone ask him, and he looked up to see a silver haired boy laying back on one of the other beds, he hadn't noticed him when he had come in. Judging by his uniform, the boy was two years above him, since he had been kept back a year because of his disappearance, Sora guessed that he was a year older than him, or they might be the same age and the other had simply been moved up a year.

That sense of familiarity overcame him once more and he wasn't surprised when his head began to ache and he began to feel sick. He squeezed his eyes shut, turning away from the boy, "I've got a bit of a head ache," he muttered, trying to push down unexpected feelings of friendship and trust and sadness- why always sadness?- in the hopes of maintaining a normal conversation.

"Oh?" he heard, glancing back, curious now as the older boy seemed to be perfectly healthy, he asked, "Why are you in here?" The boy shrugged, "hmm… why indeed? I guess I was just a bit sleepy, so I came in here for a lie down."

"Oh, are you going to go back to class?" he asked, he heard the other sigh, "nah, I don't think so, this is my first day back and I'm feeling a bit too lazy, I'll just get the work off my teachers after school and deal with it then, I don't wanna do anymore classes for the day, don't really feel up to it."

Sora nodded, before curling up slightly, he closed his eyes and tried to get too sleep, with his eyes aching and his mind tired, it wasn't long before he began to feel drowsy and started to nod off, "my name's Sora," he told the other boy, before unconsciousness took him. "… I know."

* * *

The bell ringing woke Sora out of his doze, his mind felt clearer now after his short nap, though he was a little worried he wouldn't be able to sleep very easily that night because of it. He turned around, lying on his back, gazing up at the white ceiling above him, he remembered a boy that looked a lot like the boy he had just spoken to- rather, _identical_ to the boy he had spoken to before going to sleep. He had a few vague memories of talking to the older boy, along with that red head girl too, and he seemed to remember a pretty blonde, had he been fond of her? The silver haired boy, that is.

He started in surprise, realising he hadn't gotten the other's name, he looked to his left and saw that the boy was in fact still there, dozing peacefully, _'well, he's sleeping now, I can't wake him just to ask him his name._' that decided, he sat up and thought about what he knew, _'I've met Ven's twin- at least, I'm fairly certain it was Ven's twin, and we must have been close or something, since he chose to trust me with his necklace. I've met someone identical to that red head boy, who I associate with fire for some unknown reason. The red head girl is someone I've met to, or someone identical to her, she didn't act like she recognised me at least, and when I think of this girl, I get these strange feelings. Then when I think of that silver haired one, I've either met him before or someone who looks identical- but once again, he didn't seem to recognise me- I must have had him as a friend or something, or he was at least someone I trusted.'_

He frowned, leaning back again the bed frame, _'they can't really all have had twins… maybe they forgot their past, just like me?"_ Sora considered that, it was a plausible explanation, but then, wouldn't they get headaches like him when memories started to rise?

Sora sighed, wondering how he was going to get through a year of school when the very first _day_ was this eventful and stressful.

What was more, he still couldn't seem to remember any names.

He heard a door open, and he looked over to see that a few of his friends had come to check up on him, Ven was there, Atsuko too, he could also see a girl with long brunette hair that was held in two, thick plaits, that was Tomomi, or Tomi as she had told Sora to call her. The last person in was a blonde girl who had her hair up in a low ponytail, she shut the door behind everyone else.

The first to reach him was Atsuko; she placed her hand on his forehead and looked at him in a speculative manner, "are you feeling better now? You don't seem to have a fever," Sora smiled, "I'm feeling fine now," he told her assuredly, turning to the other's to smile at them as well. "Well, try not to go to sick bay too often, you don't want to miss out on too much school, it would be bad if you got behind." He turned back to Atsuko and nodded sheepishly, "yeah, you're right."

"Just so that you know, the others didn't come because we got a whole heap of homework- even though it's only the first day," Ven told him in slightly whiny voice, clerly he wasn't happy about what he was going to forced to spend his afternoon doing, "and they wanted to get it done quickly." Sora shrugged, "I can understand that, it's not like I'm dying anyway."

"Who's dying?" The five who had been talking all turned to the sound of a slightly sleepy voice to see the boy Sora had spoken to recently sitting up and scratching his head tiredly.

Tomi grinned, "no one's dying," she probably would have added something else but Ven started talking before she could. "Yeah, everyone's fine, I'm Ventus by the way," he smiled that friendly, open smile of his as he introduced everyone one by one, "that's Tomomi-" "Tomi," she interrupted, Ven smiled, "yeah, Tomi is what we all call her," he pointed to Atsuko who was looking at Riku oddly, before Ven could say anything she told him quietly, tucking some of her short, brunette hair behind her ear, "my name's Atsuko." Ven nodded, "yup, and that's Sayuri," a point behind him to the unknown blonde girl, "and that's Sora," he finished pointing at last to Sora.

The boy nodded, "yeah, I know Sora, my name's-" "Riku!" All the inhabitants of the room turned to the door to see a short, raven haired girl walk into the room, behind her were those two red heads from earlier. Instantly, Sora's head started hurting at the sight of the new girl and the red heads, he had been avoiding looking at Riku so that he didn't start getting a headache again, but now it was back in full force.

The blonde girl- Sayuri- being the closest, noticed his pained expression, she bent down, "is everything okay?" she asked him softly, placing a hand on his forehead in a similar fashion to Atsuko, her hands were really cold. She paused, frowning, "what? Do I have a fever now?" Sora asked her, wondering why she was being silent. She took a few moments to answer, "um… to be honest, I don't know how this works, I just figured you'd be able to tell, your forehead does feel hot to me, but I have cold hands all the time so… I actually don't know," she removed her hand and looked at Sora thoughtfully, "at the least, I think you should take some Panadol when you get home, or maybe some nurofen, personally, I can't take stuff like that because swallowing pills is really difficult for me. But if you don't have that problem, then you should be fine, if you do then you can always crush it up and mix it with some honey, though that tastes really ick, it's still better than jam though, I tried that once, I wouldn't recommend it." Sora nodded, smiling slightly at the strange girl and her random speech- though he did feel a little better for the small distraction- before tuning back into the conversation everyone else was having.

He stayed focused on Sayuri's face though, he didn't want to look over at the visitor's, he really didn't want his headache to get any worse. "So who are you guys, then? I don't recall seeing you before," he heard Ven ask curiously.

The raven haired girl replied- Sora could tell it was her by her voice- in a flat tone, "well, we're all adopted, by Mr. Darke." Sayuri's eyes lit up in comprehension, "oh, I heard something about him adopting a bunch of kids, and wanting them taught here since he was such old friends with our current mayor. I think he was called Xemnas Darke, I'm not really sure though, because I don't really pay a lot of attention to the news."

Sora's eyes widened at the name, _'why does it seem familiar?'_ he wondered, dread settling in the pit of his stomach, _'and why does it make me feel so afraid?'_

"In regards to our names, well you know Riku's now, I'm Xion, that's Kairi, and that's Axel."

* * *

**Ooh... what now, they're all alive again somehow, and they're involved with Mr Darke... X3**

**Bet you're all wondering how this happened, well you'll just have to wait until I decide to put it in.**

**And yes, Darke is a weird last name but it was the first thing that was in my head and I'm no good at making up last names so... yeah**

**Sora: You tend to ramble a bit**

**I always ramble, rambling is my thing... also getting major feels at pretty much any given moment... and I mean that, I got AlMei feels when I was having a shower, and I wasn't even thinking about Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Sora: Um... okay**

**Ventus: Could you just work on the next chapter?**

**Yeah yeah**

**So review! Let me know what you think! I'll try and do up Chapter three since I owe Bec, I'll do my best to get up today or tomorrow. Yup yup!**


	3. Fire, Light, Confusion And Roxas

**Here you are Bec, payment for the third chapter of your fanfic (which you guys should definitely read).**

**I got a mini writer's block for this, I wasn't sure just how much I wanted to reveal or the best way to go around doing it, hopefully it doesn't really show here.**

**I'm in this chapter! So's one of my friends, another is mentioned. Vanitas gets involved in this chapter. And certain Disney character makes an appearance, though I don't think I'll really have him in any other chapters.**

**See if you can guess who it is!**

**Sora: Haven't like... the first three chapters simply been centered around my first day of school?**

**Yeah... pretty much XD**

**Sora: -.-**

**Anyways, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I don't own my friends, I don't own Disney, and I don't own the concept of chips and juice.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Fire, Light, Confusion And… Roxas**

_'Just one word can trigger it and the memories come flooding back… but what is that word?'_

They were definitely the people he had met in those six months, the moment he had heard their names, he had realised that…

_'A hand ruffling his hair, "don't worry about it kid, the name's Axel, got it memorized?"'_

_'A smile that seemed to light up the dim atmosphere, "hi, you seem new here, I'm Kairi, what's your name?"'_

_'A boy leaning against the wall, looking at him, "you seem a bit lost, let me give you a hand, I'm Riku."'_

_'A quiet, raven haired girl standing with Ven's twin, "oh, there you are Sora, I'd like you to meet Xion."'_

_'Riku gazing at a familiar yet unknown blonde girl, "she's really quite amazing," a smile when she sees them watching.'_

Sora focused on sorting out the racing thoughts and memories, it felt as though they were each trying to pummel the inside of his head. By the time his headache had eased enough for Sora to look up and around the room once more, those four other students had left, Atsuko was gazing contemplatively at the door, Tomi was looking at her curiously. Ven had gone to the window and must have been watching them go; Sayuri was seated on a chair next to Sora. When she felt Sora's questioning gaze, she turned to him, "they just left, in case you were wondering… do you feel okay? You seemed a bit out of it for a few minutes or so there." Sora shook his head and smiled, "I'm fine, thanks, Sayuri."

"Don't thank me, I didn't do anything, I just kind of… sat here uselessly," she replied in a cheerful tone, "and just call me Yuri," she told him. "I'm going home now," Atsuko told the others, "I want to get started on my school work too, and you seem okay now, Sora," she smiled at the brunette before going, Sora didn't notice that there was something strange about that smile. Tomi hesitated before running off after her, leaving the other three in the room.

Ven started to say something when Yuri got to her feet as well, stretching her back, she half-turned to Sora, "remember, take some painkillers if your headache comes back, and Ven, I think you should go with Sora when he heads home, just in case. I'd probably come with you guys, but I think I need to talk to Atusko," Sora tilted his head curiously, "about what," the blonde girl simply smiled, "girl stuff, besides, a girl being alone in the company of two men is very improper." She added, before walking out of the room, humming.

Sora raised an eyebrow at Ven, who smiled sheepishly, "she's friends with Atsuko and Tomi, and we're kinda friends too, so… when she heard that you were sick, she wanted to come check up on you as well," Sora's gaze didn't waver, "improper?" Ven shrugged, "she sometimes tends to be a bit weird, she means well. Just don't get her into one of her fangirl modes though, the only one who can match her when she's like that is one of her friends, Aya, I haven't met the girl, but whenever one of those three talk about her, they always include that she is a total fangirl and I'm fairly certain that to normal people that translates as crazy." He grinned, "but from what I heard, she's a really nice person, she doesn't live around here though."

He looked out the window again and Sora got to his feet and walked over to the blonde, following his line of sight to see the blonde running with her bag bouncing on her back, chasing after the two other brunettes who stopped and turned around. When she reached them she collapsed against Atsuko, "I bet she's complaining about them making her run," Ven commented fondly, Sora looked at him curiously before shrugging, "well, I've got to get home at any rate." He told the other boy, before walking out of sickbay, his head felt a lot clearer now, so he figured he'd be fine.

Getting to the bag racks, he swung the bag up over his shoulder and went to head out when he realised Ven was walking with him, seeing the questioning look, Ven shrugged, "Yuri ordered me to take you home, besides, I am still a bit worried about you myself, and I missed out on walking home with the guys so… I don't see any reason why not to walk with you."

Sora shrugged, he didn't really mind either way, "you're not going to be going out of your way, are you? I live more near the beaches." Ven looked thoughtful, "the girls live out that way, I do to, it's one of the closer places to this school, so a lot of families live around there… you're talking about the Eastern ones, right?" Sora nodded.

Ven grinned, "Well, we can walk home with the girls next time as well!" "That'd be good."

"Hey Sora!" the two turned around at the voice, and Sora saw one of his old friends- Donald- running up to them. Donald was slightly shorter than Sora, and had been born with shockingly pale blonde hair, it was practically white, he was often short tempered, but he always meant well. The blonde stopped when he caught up to them, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "it really sucks that you got kept down, not like it's your fault you went missing."

Sora just shrugged, "it's okay, education is important and… blah," he walked with them, heading out of school together; they had gotten outside of the gates when Donald stopped, "oh, I forgot something, do you think you could wait for me?" Sora and Ven nodded, "sure, no problem."

Donald flashed them a grin then- dropping his back onto the ground- sprinted off back to school, "wonder what he forgot," Ven commented idly.

They waited for about five minutes, Sora leaning up against the wall, Ven slouching where he stood; the two of them spoke about nothing of great import, "I tend to do okay in my studies, I guess, though I don't exactly lo-" Sora stood up straight, interrupting Ven who turned to see what the brunette was looking at.

Standing a few feet away, was a small, raven haired girl, gazing at them impassively, "Xion?" Sora frowned, ignoring the increasing pressure in his mind at the girl's presence; he'd already gotten a little used to it, because of his constant company with Ven during the day.

The girl didn't respond, Sora saw her raise her hand slightly, there was a flash of light and Sora stumbled back, blinded, Ven's cry of surprised pain informed him that the same had happened to the blonde.

"Sora! Ven!" he heard someone call before being knocked sideways, he felt a searing heat go past him then the hard, concrete ground and two bodies falling on top of him. He lay dazedly for a few moments before his vision gradually cleared, he looked around to see Donald getting to his feet and Ven getting off him, blinking his eyes rapidly.

Donald's eyes were wide, "I don't even know where that came from, it was like some kind of movie or something and I just jumped at you both and knocked you out of the way, but I couldn't see anyone and what just happened!" he cried, panicking slightly.

Ven got to his feet, "what are you talking about?" he asked the boy confusedly, before he looked around them, "oh…" he said softly.

Sora sat up and copied Ven's actions, unbelieving at what he was seeing.

There were scorch marks on the ground all over the place, and a nearby tree was blazing away.

Sora's eyes widened.

Fire.

"Oh…"

* * *

"Oh…"

Nothing else jumped out at them or attacked them, and they ended up shakily heading off home. They separated from Donald who ran off home after saying a quick good bye.

In the end, Sora found himself sitting awkwardly with Ven in the living room, they both stared at each other, unsure what to say about what had happened on the way home.

Finally, Ven spoke hesitantly, "that was Xion we saw, right?"

Sora lay back against the couch, "yeah, I think it definitely was, but Donald didn't seem to see her, and where did that fire come from?" he ignored the sudden image of the red head- Axel- that flashed into his mind, "not to mention, what was that weird bright light, because of it we couldn't even see, we probably would have been burnt to death if Donald hadn't come along at that moment," Ven added.

Sora hesitated, the light he could explain, after all, he himself could control light, and he could sense it being manipulated, it had come from Xion's direction, _'can she control light to, I wonder? But why would she attack us? Not to mention the fire, is it possible that people can control things other than light?'_ He thought about it for some moments, _'fire really does seem to go well with that Axel, though I don't know why I would think that, it just seems that way to me.'_

"Sora?" Ven noticed the brunette's contemplative expression; he leaned forward and waved a hand on front of the boy's face, "Sora? Hello, earth to Sora!" the other boy started and stared and Ven, _'how much should I tell him?'_ he wondered.

Seeing the blonde's face reminded him of his twin, though he still couldn't remember his name.

_'I have a twin… he's actually a lot like you.'_

_'I think you two would get along well.'_

_'I'd like to see him again…'_

_'I can control light, like you… the only person I ever really told was Ven.'_

Sora sat up again, _'I obviously trusted his twin a lot, not to mention, he had the same ability as me, and it seems he told Ven, though whether or not he remembers still remains to be seen.'_

He turned to Ven with new purpose, "I have the same… _magical_ talent your twin, something not exactly normal." Ven frowned at him, "what are you talking about? Are you trying to… The only really amazing thing like that that I can think of is…" his eyes lit up in comprehension, "oh… you have… magic…" Sora nodded, Ven stared at the brunette for some moments in surprise before gathering himself and continuing on, clearly stopping himself from questioning the brunette, "and are you saying that bright light was the same thing?" Sora nodded, "I think so, someone was manipulating light, and it was coming from Xion's direction, I think she has the same ability."

Ven nodded, "that makes sense… but… why would she attack us? And what about the fire?" Sora sighed, "I'm not entirely sure, but, think about it, if there are people who can control light then…" "There are probably people who can control things like fire," Ven finished, understanding what Sora was trying to say.

Sora lay back, leaning against the armrest, "I knew them… before, from the time I was missing," he said softly; Ven frowned, "Xion?" "And that Axel, and Kairi and Riku, there was also this blonde girl, as well as your twin. I knew them all around the same time, we were friends, I think."

"That makes this even _more_ confusing, if you guys were once friends then why would they attack you?" Sora shook his head, "I don't know."

"But… I mean… I don't remember everything about them, but… they seemed… _different_ to how I remembered them, more…" he struggled to think of a word to describe it, before sighing, "something about them just seemed… _off_. I don't know why."

Someone walked in, Sora looked up to see his older brother Vanitas standing in the doorway, "bringing home a friend on the first day?" the raven shrugged, "not that I really care, but you make friends really quickly Sora." The brunette grinned, "Hey Vani, this is Ven, Ven, this is Vani."

Vanitas came in and sat down on the edge of a couch, sighing, "so, how was your first day back, did you hold out okay?" his response was a nod, Sora hesitated, did he want to tell Vanitas everything?

Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to decide for himself, Vanitas noticed his hesitation and immediately sensed that his little brother was keeping something from him, "what happened?" he asked sharply, eyes flickering over to the blonde momentarily before going back to Sora.

"Well… it's to do with my memory, and my… magic, I guess," catching Vanitas' worried glance he waved his hand dismissively, "don't worry about Ven, he knows, what's more, his younger twin was like me."

"Oh…" Vanitas leaned against the back of the couch, "okay then, let's hear it."

Quickly, the two younger boys filled the raven in on what had happened.

* * *

Sora brought out a plate of chips, and three cups, placing them on the table; everyone poured themselves a cup of juice and had a snack.

The brunette couldn't help but feel relieved, after such a serious conversation, they were able to just have a moment's calm. It didn't last long though.

"So," Vanitas began, wiping his hands on his school shorts, "we can hardly go to the police about this; Sora, do you remember anything that might give us a hint as to why you've got a bunch of old friends trying to kill you?" Seeing that Sora was about to protest to their 'trying to kill him' he added, "or at least seriously injure you?"

The brunette deflated, shaking his head, "nothing, I don't remember anything that could tell us anything, sorry."

Ven leaned forward curiously, "so what _do_ you remember then?" Sora thought for a moment before turning to Ven, "quite a bit about your twin, though his name keeps slipping through my mind." Ven perked up a little, "oh, well, that's simple, his name's Roxas."

Sora froze, inside him, something stirred, "Roxas," he repeated, more to himself, something in his mind seemed to snap, memories came tumbling into his the forefront of his mind, clamouring for attention, the headache flared up, more fiercely than before. Just before Sora lost conscious, he heard a sleepy, yet familiar voice speak inside his mind.

_"Yeah?"_

* * *

**Yeah, so you sorta get to see some Sora's memories more specifically.**

**And Roxas is still there, ooh, what now?**

**Not to mention, it seems all of Sora's old friends have become evil or something, or is there something he doesn't know?**

**Fufu...**

**I know what you all want to know, so just once, I'll tell you...**

**Donald forgot his homework, that's what he went back for X3**

**Sora: You made it sound more like you were going to answer some of the things you were just talking about.**

**Now why would I do that? There are some major spoilers in there.**

**Ventus: Sometimes I fear for your sanity Jessica.**

**Vanitas: What do you mean ****_sometimes_****?**

**Anyway, review, let me know what you think!**

** Do you like how this is turning out? Heehee XD**


	4. Blame

**Arghh... I am so tired right now because I unwillingly pulled an all-nighter last night.**

**We got on the plane at 7:30 in the afternoon (leaving at 6:30), we landed at 1:30 in the middle of the night and everyone was going "happy new year!" and I'm just like, "what's so happy about it I'm exhausted" because I just can't sleep in vehicles, I got so close on the plane, that's how tired I was, then we landed and I was just T**

**We had to wait until 4:30, then we left and arrived at our final destination at 7:30 and I was just dying because I was so tired and it was so cold.**

**Anyway, please excuse if something in this seems a bit strange or something, that's my excuse. Yeah... this chapter's just... nothing exciting really happening.**

**Sora: Hey!**

**I'm in it, I make everything exciting.**

**I'm too tired to deal with you**

**Roxas: What about me? Isn't it exciting that I'm back?**

***Sigh* you know I think it's lovely but I will edit you all out of this story if you don't be quiet!"**

**Sora: ...**

**Roxas: ... :T**

**Ven: ...**

**Vanitas: Jessica doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, but it seems she does own a bad temper :D**

**Oh be ****_quiet_**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Blame**

_'You blame yourself for what has happened, but in truth… what does that gain?'_

Sora's mind was a near exploding with memories, they had all rushed him at once and he felt quite overwhelmed.

_'Surprise on Roxas' face as Sora shouted embarrassedly, "fine! I like Kairi! I… I'd even go as far to say I __**love**__ her! But at least I can admit it!'_

_'Riku's nervous expression, shock coursing through his vein, "you have a crush on __**Roxas**__?" surprise, "…what?"'_

_'Everyone smiling, Kairi looking at him, "we can still be happy, Sora, despite our situation, we just have to try a little harder than most."'_

_'Xion and Roxas both sick, Axel's stricken expression, "they might die."'_

_'Talking to Xion, having no response but hoping that it would maybe help wake her up; realising she would never be waking up.'_

_'Axel, Kairi, Riku, gazing with unseeing eyes, Kairi's words tumbling around in his mind.'_

_'Blood running down his wrist, staining that ground around him, satisfaction that it was all over now, at least.'_

_'Waking up once more to find his body doesn't belong to only him now…'_

Sora opened his eyes to find himself looking up at the ceilings of his living room, feeling the fabric underneath him he realised he was lying on the couch, _'how did I end up here?'_ he wondered dazedly, before everything came flooding back, the memories of the past day… and the memories of the missing six months… no longer missing.

He squeezed his eyes shut, shame for his past actions, grief over the losses, anger at the way things turned out, all flooding into him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, forcing himself to think about it in a more detached manner.

Groaning he sat up, rubbing at his forehead, he looked around to see Ven and Vanitas sitting nearby, looking at him concerned expressions on their faces, "we weren't sure whether to call the doctor's or not, after you just collapsed like that," Ven told him, eyebrows knitted with worry, "you okay? Or do you think we should call someone up after all?" Sora shook his head, his mouth felt like it was filled with wool, his head pounded and he felt like emptying the contents of his stomach into the nearest bucket; but that didn't matter, because he remembered. Everything.

They weren't necessarily good memories, in fact, some of them made him want curl up into a little ball and never come out again, but he had a feeling that that was something he couldn't do. Not now.

With a start, Sora remembered Roxas, closing his eyes he called out in his mind for the boy, hoping that his voice before he lost unconsciousness wasn't just part of his imagination.

_"Roxas?"_ he called out tentatively, there was a pause so long Sora began to panic that maybe he _had_ imagined it, that Roxas really was gone, and it was his fault, then, _"Hi, Sora,"_ Sora grinned so hard that Vanitas and Ven looked at him warily as though he were some insane madman on the loose and they weren't sure whether to run or try to take him down.

Seeing their expressions Sora hurried to explain, "I got my memories back, all of them though I don't know why," Roxas piped up at that, apparently after being quiet so long, he was aching for a chance of conversation, _"I was kinda… holding onto your memories for you, but because the memories were initially yours… well… it was kinda like you had right to ownership or something, so when certain things triggered memories, I couldn't hold onto them, your mind's pull was stronger. When you remembered me, rather, when you remembered my name, you must have kind of… subconsciously called out to me, that distracted me and my hold on your memories slipped, so they all came rushing back into the forefront of you mind.'_ There was a pause then he heard- almost like a whisper in his mind- Roxas speak again, "_I figured it would be nice if you didn't have to remember everything that had happened, so you could continue on with life normally."_ Sora smiled, _"thanks but… I would have remembered sooner or later."_

_"Actually no… you probably wouldn't, if you hadn't seen them at school… weren't they… killed…. And why did Axel and X-Xion attack you?"_ Sora shook his head, _"I don't know."_

By now, Ven and Vanitas were getting a bit concerned, it looked almost like Sora was a having a conversation with himself, though they couldn't be sure, "uh… Sora?"

Sora started and glanced at the, he chuckled sheepishly, "sorry, I was just talking to Roxas."

Ven made a startled, half choking noise, "don't," he whispered, Sora glanced at him in confusion, "don't joke about something like that." Sora shook his head, "I wasn't joking, Ven!" Ven glared at him, "how were you talking to him, then? Or better yet, do you have proof that you were talking to him."

Sora hesitated, _"when we were younger, we'd often end up sleeping together because we'd get nightmares, I'd dream that I'd vanish and that everyone would forget about me, Ven had nightmares that everyone he loved was taken away from him, he told me once that it felt like his heart was getting broken, whenever he had those dreams."_

Sora raised his eyebrows in surprise before relaying Roxas' words to the trembling blonde. Shock replaced the anger, "how did you… how did you know that?" Sora sighed, "as I said, though I kind of blurted it out without thinking, I was talking to Roxas."

Seeing their questioning looks Sora sighed, "I remember everything now, it isn't exactly a happy story, but I trust you to, so if you want, I'll tell you." They both nodded, so Sora began talking.

* * *

There was silence after finishing his story, Vanitas was staring at Sora in shock, evidently horrified that something like this was happening, that it had happened to his little brother, guilty because he hadn't been able to stop it happening to his little brother.

Sora couldn't see Ven's face, he was looking down at the floor, hands clenched into fists, resting on his knees, knuckles white, his entire body was trembling. Sora had no clue what was going through the blonde's mind.

_"Ven…?"_ he heard Roxas ask, concerned, despite the fact that his twin wouldn't be able to hear him.

Sora's mouth was dry, uncomfortably, he shifted in his seat, "I'm… well, I don't think I really _have_ a right to say this but… I'm sorry, Ven"

"You're right," the blonde whispered, "you have absolutely no right to ask for forgiveness," he looked up now, and Sora could see that his eyes were wide with anger and grief, "I trusted you!" the boy shouted, "I thought maybe I would get to see me twin again, but because of you, that isn't possible!" Sora clenched his fists, _'I have no right to be angry,'_ he told himself, _'but he's talking about Roxas as though he didn't exist!'_

He stood up, but before he could do anything, Roxas moved in and took over control; Sora was pulled back and made to watch with surprise from the sidelines.

Sora's face softened once Roxas was in possession of it, he smiled slightly, "hey, Ven," the blonde responded by making a strange noise and stepping back, "Roxas?" he asked softly, nervously.

The once-blonde-now-brunette smiled and nodded, and Ven stepped forward hesitantly before hugging the boy tightly, "I missed you, and I was so worried about you," Roxas nodded his head, hugging his twin back tightly, "yeah, sorry for that," "what's there to be sorry for? It wasn't your fault."

Roxas looked at Ven before sighing, "Sora isn't at fault either, you know," Ven started, his grip loosening on his twin in surprise, "but you don't even have a body now because you-" "Because _I_ did something, it was my decision, if you're going to get mad at Sora for killing himself, well, that is understandable, because I know I was angry with him for doing that, but you can't blame him for anything that happened, even his suicidal act, he had just seen almost all of his friends d…" Roxas paused, arms tightening around Ven as his voice broke a little, he blinked rapidly to clear the sudden tears that had appeared in his- Sora's- eyes, "dead and gone," he finished softly, "anyone would be tempted do something like that if it seemed like all they cared about was gone, and their situation wasn't going to improve."

Ven hesitated, clearly not wanting to argue with his twin right after their reunion, but also still bearing Sora some grudge now that he couldn't let go of too easily; Roxas sighed, "just think about it, please? Don't just go blaming Sora, okay?"

Ven pulled away from Roxas, who looked somewhat stricken with the idea of his twin never trusting his friend, of not being able to talk to his brother because of a grudge he bears.

Ven looked at him for some moments, "it is still you there," he said softly, "it's not just someone making it up, I can tell, I can see it in your face, even though it's someone else's face, something about it just makes me think completely of my little brother," Roxas felt hope building inside of him, enough that he replied in a light teasing tone, "I'm not your little brother, I'm only younger than you by a few minutes."

Ven laughed, clearly put at ease at the slight reminder of a long-lasting joke that they had entertained in their youth.

Roxas spoke in a softer manner, "do you want to talk to Sora?" he asked the blonde whose expression instantly shuttered, "I… I think…" Roxas could sense Sora's distress at the blonde's hesitation, however well he tried to keep it from him- he couldn't bear the thought of losing a friend.

"I'll have to think for a bit, I'll think about what you said Roxas, but right now I…" he trailed off, after stepping forward and giving Roxas and awkward hug he said, "I'm guessing you can't come home with me," Roxas shook his head, his heart wrenching at the slightly wistful tone in the other's voice, he had finally gotten his brother back, but they couldn't even spend time together.

Ven sighed, running a hand through his hair, distressed, "well, I won't disregard what you said Roxas," he told the boy, "I'll think about it all so… see you all later."

With that he walked out of the room.

* * *

"You probably hate me too," Sora stated miserably, he was back in control of his own body, "to be honest, I can't believe Roxas doesn't, he has every right to, he really should, but he's just dealing with it like he expected nothing more, he's… stronger than me."

Vanitas sighed, placing down the mug of coffee he had made for himself after Ven's sudden departure, "I don't hate you, your my little brother, for better or for worse, and as the older one, it's my duty to care for you no matter what you do. I love you, despite of all that, and I can accept it," he paused, and smiled slightly, saying in a light, teasing tone in an obvious attempt to cheer the brunette up, "besides, you make a face like a kicked puppy whenever you're upset, who could really say something like they hate you without being swamped in guilt."

Sora managed a small smile before sipping from his cup of hot chocolate (Sora didn't drink coffee, or tea), "thanks, Vani," he said to the boy softly. After placing the cup back down, he stared at his hands before asking, "What now?" The raven shrugged, "we'll have to think of something, after all, from the sounds of it, the Organisation is after you again, I imagine they'll want you back, if not for the results from the experiment, simply because you know all about them, and provide a potential threat against them."

_"He's right, I can't imagine the Organisation leaving us alone, besides, in all reality, I don't think I could just turn away from what they're doing anymore, not if I think there's something I can do."_

They sat in silence for a few moments before Roxas spoke up hesitantly, _"since Xion, Axel, Riku and Kairi are all alive,"_ Sora didn't mention the way Roxas' voice trembled when he said those names, _"then does that mean they've figured out a way past that roadblock. Does that mean they completed their necromancy project? That the goal for Project Kingdom Hearts has been… accomplished? And does that mean they sacrificed other people to bring them back?"_

Sora relayed Roxas' words to Vanitas, and they sat in silence for some moments, unsure what to say about that, until Sora clenched his fist determinedly, "we'll just have to think of a way to stop them then, so that it doesn't happen again," Vanitas smiled and nodded, and Roxas made a sound of confirmation.

The three spent many hours trying to think up something, a way to deal with the Organisation, but they came up with nothing. Finally, dejectedly, they admitted defeat for the day and headed off to bed, _"well, at least, if you're attacked again, you'll be better equipped to fight back,"_ Roxas mentioned idly to Sora, before the brunette drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was lunch time, Sora hadn't had any run-ins with past companions, but he also hadn't had a chance to speak to Ven, he had no idea whether the blonde hated him, or had decided that maybe his brother was right and Sora wasn't to blame, _'though to be honest, I really am to blame, this whole thing is my fault,'_ he thought to himself dejectedly, _"oh stop it Roxas, you know, they were going to use me to try and bring back Xion anyway, Axel told me, at least this way, it happened on my own terms."_

Sora didn't get a chance to reply to that; he had gone into the library in search of a quiet haven where he could just think, rather he found himself encountering a familiar face- namely, yuri's- upside.

The girl lying on one of the couches in the reading area, she held a book in her hands and was dangling down from one side of the couch; her head was resting on the floor, her blonde hair splayed all about her.

Sora raise an eyebrow before going to sit next to her, "isn't it hard to read like that?" he asked the girl, only to receive no response, he frowned, wondering if all the blood going to her head had made unable to speak or something, "Yuri?"

The blonde turned towards him, "oh! Sorry, Sora, did you say something?" Sora sighed, rolling his eyes he shook his head, "nothing important." Yuri smiled before sitting up and crossing her legs, closing her book and slipping a piece of paper in to mark the page, she glanced up at Sora again and that smile faltered, "Sora?" he looked at her, wondering what was wrong, "yeah, what is it?"

Yuri shook her head, "I should be asking you that, what happened yesterday," seeing Sora's surprised expression she shrugged, "you looked like you had a lot on your mind, like something had happened, if you don't want to tell me that's fine." Sora shook his head, "no… it isn't that it's just…" he hesitated, "I had a bit of an argument with Ven yesterday, I'm worried that he hates me now."

To his surprise Yuri shook her head vehemently, "of course he doesn't, Sora! I don't think it's even possible for Ven to hate someone. He doesn't even hold grudges for very long; I think if you went and spoke to him, you'd find he's already forgiven you."

Sora raised an eyebrow at her tone, half tempted to comment on her evident admiration for the boy, but he left it alone, she had a good point, and at the very least, putting it off wouldn't change the end result.

In the end, he didn't even have to look for the blonde; he had taken one step out of the library and seen him rushing towards him. Before Sora could say anything Ven hugged him tightly, "sorry, Sora, I shouldn't have blamed you like I did," he pulled away and Sora stared at him in surprise, "you… forgive me?"

Ven nodded, "but more importantly, regarding the Organisation… I have a plan."

* * *

**Well, there you go, a bit of Sora-hatin' in this one, don't worry Sora! I'll always love you!**

**Sora: You were just threatening to delete us all- me inclued- from the story if we didn't stop talking!**

**Details, details.**

**So, Bec, I held up my end of the bargain, another chappie for your lovely chappie.**

**The place we're staying at is awesome, I got the double bed for once and I just *happy dance***

**And like, it's two levels and we're up on the second floor and to get to the second floor there's a Hogwarts staircase.**

**I don't mean those moving staircase, it's more... it a metal staircase that goes up in a spiral and it's really steep and I know I'm gonna get sick of walking up it but it reminds me of the stairs leading to Dumbledore's office and just, oh my God, they are the coolest. And there's a bookshelf full of books like Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings and everything and I'm just like, "not enough time to read them all!" because I know mum isn't going to just let me sit in my room and read.**

**Roxas: That sounds cool, I guess**

**Of course it's cool, it's amazing!**

**Vanitas: You're impressed very easily.**

**Ventus: I haven't said anything in the author's notes yet so... hello!**

**You can ask them to review**

**Ventus: Okay then... review and I'll tell you what my amazing incredible plan is in the next chapter!**


	5. Plans

**AkuBeku**** - Thankyou, it is nice to know that I am perf XD**

**Also, I didn't get to finish reading all the books I wanted to... I couldn't stay up during the night because I was sharing a room with two of my younger siblings**

**And we were staying in someone's house, they were lending it to us for free since they were friends with dad**

**X-blade025**** - Thanks for reviewing each chapter, I'm glad that you enjoyed my chapter ^.^**

**And yeah, I figured I should respond to some of my reviews here**

**Anwyays... here's the chapter I owe you Bec.**

**By the way, if you live in Autralia and you've been watching the news, then you might have seen mention of the bushifires in Tasmania. Yeah... I was in those. Not in them literally, as in the fire itself, but like... we got cut off, and we had to be evacutated by a ferry and all that so... yeah.**

**But seriously tho, we went there for one week, to get away from the heat, I already mentioned this to Bec but, it was like the hottest temperatures there in like... a hundred years or something, and the first bush fire in ten.**

**I can appreciate the irony.**

**Nothing else.**

**In the past week, I've pulled two all-nighters (unwilling) and spent another night staying up till past midnight.**

**Vanitas: Are you done whinging?**

**Not really**

**Roxas: They're reading this for us though**

**Ven: Yeah... sorry, but I don't think they're all that interested**

***splutters* w-well.. fine, then! I'm not interested in what happens to you guys!**

**Sora: You gotta be, else nothing would be written**

**:O**

**:T**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts. **

* * *

**Chapter Five: Plans**

_'To every problem there's a solution, but are you sure it's the right one?'_

Ven ended up coming back to Sora's place after school again, they had walked home with the girls this time, parting ways towards the end, waving good bye to each other.

When they got inside, Ven started talking but Roxas took over and silenced him, telling him that Sora's older brother was involved as well, as such, they should wait for him. It was only fair, and he would be home soon anyway.

Roxas was right, soon Vanitas arrived back home from school, he stopped when he saw Ven and Sora sitting, waiting for him in the living room, "all friends again, I see," he commented wryly, but he sat down all the same.

Roxas gave control back to Sora, who turned to Ven, "so what was your plan then?" Ven stared at the brunette for a moment- clearly put out of sorts by the sudden change- before shaking his head.

"Well… in truth, it isn't that amazing, it's kinda just stating what we need to do, but… we should go back to the Organisation's headquarters." He began, "first, we need to get back your friends, I don't think any of us want to have to fight them, nor get them in trouble. We can't just leave them maybe we can find out what exactly happened, and get them back to normal. They aren't staying on the island, I found that out, I think the Organisation wants them where they can keep an eye on them. So we have to go back to where you held captive, Sora, Roxas. I don't know if we can actually fight the Organisation members, they all sound rather powerful, we'd probably need more people with magical abilities to succeed. But we can use the media to our advantage instead.

"I have a friend who's older than me, Terra, his father is head of a really well-respected newspaper, everyone reads it. From what you told me, the Organisation would surely have connections higher up, right? Well, if we could get proof, so… photos… film, whatever, of what they do there, as well as the people involved, well, his dad would surely want to publish an article on it, it'd be pretty big, right? A necromancy project, magic, all of it, and if that were to happen, I mean, it's not like it could be ignored, the situation would be investigated, the Organisation would be found out!" Sora and Vanitas glanced at each other, it was a good plan but, "how do you know your friend's dad will be willing to publish it?" Ven shrugged, "we'll just have to get the pictures, show him and do our best to convince him, besides, we have a witness on our side," at this he grinned at Sora, who squirmed uncomfortably, "I'm not sure I want people to know I have magic or anything," he confessed.

Ven sighed, "I understand, but surely stopping the Organisation is more important?" Sora thought of Kairi, of his friend Riku, and –to a lesser extent- Axel and Xion, he thought of Roxas, surely he needed to take the chance to avenge what had happened with his friend, right? _"Don't put yourself in danger for my sake,"_ the voice spoke up mildly in his mind.

Sora frowned, _"I'm at fault for what happened, but they are as well, I can't just let them get away with what happened to you!"_ he heard a sigh, _"I don't mind, I'm used to it,"_ _"What about what happened to Namine? What about Riku? Kairi? Axel? …Xion?"_ Roxas didn't reply and Sora took that to be permission, he turned to Ven and nodded, "okay, then." He smiled jokingly, "for trouble that's centred mostly around magic, it seems a rather non-magical solution," Ven shrugged, "it works though, you have to admit," Sora nodded, from the sounds of it, that plan had a good chance of being successful, he sighed, "okay, okay, I'm not complaining, I was just saying, and yeah, Roxas agrees with me on this as well."

Ven grinned, "that's great, so where are they?"

At this Sora hesitated, "uh… I don't… know."

* * *

Sora slumped in his seat next to Yuri in Maths, he groaned, _'perfect, just the subject to lighten my mood,'_ he thought sarcastically as the teacher began writing up simultaneous equations, he heard a quiet laugh from the girl next to him and looked at her, feeling his eyes on her she glanced over at him, giving him a brief smile she whispered, "I don't exactly _love_ maths, but algebra is okay, I guess," Sora raised an incredulous eyebrow but the blonde didn't notice, she had already started copying the equations off the board, _"like you __**should**__ be,"_ Roxas admonished.

Sora sighed and started writing.

* * *

At the end of maths the two began packing up their things, as Yuri picked up her books a photo slid out of her diary. Sora bent down and picked it up, looking at it for a moment, it was a photo of two girls, both smiling uncertainly as though they would rather not have a photo taken, Yuri was easily identifiable, but the one next to her was unknown to him, he handed the photo to the blonde, "oh! Thanks Sora," she smiled at him, "who's she?" he asked, pointing at the tall girl with short dark hair who was giving Yuri what seemed to be a present.

Yuri glanced at the photo, "hmm? Oh, that's Aya, she doesn't live here, so you won't know her, Atsuko was the one who took the photo, which is really the only reason I let it be taken, Tomi was attacking one of my little brothers with a lightsaber if I remember correctly, and you won't know any of my other friends either," she smiled at Sora, "I have pictures of them as well, rather, I have all these pictures from my birthday in my diary, I'm worried I'll lose them if I don't keep them close by, I'd show them to you but, well… I gotta get to Art, so… see you later Sora!" with those parting words she ran out of the class, hefting her books up to get a better grip on them as she went. She was usually late to class more often than on time.

_"Hey, Sora?"_ Sora started gathering up his books, but indicated that he was listening, _"that girl, in the photo, Aya, I… I know her."_

* * *

Sora pulled Ven to one side at lunch, "I think I might have a way to find the Organisation," he told the blonde in a low voice, Ven stared at him in surprise, "how?" he whispered, "it was Roxas' idea, really, see-"

"What are you two doing hiding there like that?" the two boys turned in surprise to see Tomi and Atsuko standing there looking at them both, "uh…" Sora began, Atsuko sighed, "like that isn't suspicious, well come on then, I can't help but worry that you're up to no good, so you can come sit with the rest of us."

The two boys nodded reluctantly, following the girls out, over to the table where a few others were already seated.

They glanced at each other, and the question in Ven's eyes was clear, _'how?'_ he shook his head and mouthed back, _'after school.'_

* * *

When the bell rang, Sora headed over to his bag to find Ven already there, knowing what he was going to ask, he grabbed his bag and motioned for the blonde to follow him, Ven hesitated then walked after him, out of school grounds along the path.

Sora sent a text message to Vanitas quickly, explaining that day's discovery.

Finally Ven, unable to wait any longer asked impatiently, "so what idea did you Roxas come up with?" Sora turned to him, a grin on his face, he opened his mouth to start talking, then his attention focused on somewhere behind Ven, and no sound came out.

Ven, confused turned to see Xion standing outside the school gates, after a moment, Axel joined her and they stood together as a car parked to one side of the school gates.

Roxas took over Sora suddenly, not giving him a chance to protest, he moved towards the two, "Xion! Ax-" out of the car stepped a familiar man with long grey hair and condescending smirk. The two had heard Roxas' call and turned towards him, this of course, brought the man's attention onto him as well. There was no mistaking it.

Xemnas Darke.

The Superior of Organisation XIII.

Roxas' throat was dry with terror as the man walked up to him, that smirk only widening, "why, hello young man, I remember meeting you, last time I visited the island, right? It had been such a pleasure conversing with you then. Of course, I'll be here a lot more often, we must catch up again sometime," he smiled at the boy before turning when Riku and Kairi walked out of the school together, "ah! There you are children, let's go then," and with another nod to the boy, the five of them got back into the car and drove off.

"Roxas?" Ven asked, running up to stand beside his friend/twin, Roxas turned to his twin, "that was the… Superior." Ven's eyes widened, "Mr. Darke?"

Suddenly, Roxas felt sick, he didn't want to talk anymore so he shrunk back into Sora's mind and let the original owner take over.

Sora looked at Ven, "I've seen him so many times," he said softly, "but I didn't realise until Roxas pointed it out," his eyes widened, "that must have been how they knew I had magic, he had crept up on me one time I was practising, I didn't think he had seen, but he must have, and then he sent Marluxia after me."

Concerned, Sora called out to Roxas, _"Hey, Rox? Are you okay?"_ there was no response and Sora knitted his brow in worry, he knew better than anyone how scared Roxas was of the Superior, at least half the other Organisation members he had known prior to their joining, Xemnas was the one behind the whole scheme, and to Roxas, the source of his torment.

Seeing Sora's concern, Ven realised quickly what the brunette was worried about, he smiled as reassuringly as he could, trying to hide the worry he felt for his younger twin, "how about you come over to my house this time?"

* * *

Sora sat in Ven's living room, at the dining table, with one leg dangling down; his hands were wrapped around the knee of his other leg.

Ven leaned against the wall looking at Sora concernedly, "is Roxas answering," he asked the brunette who closed his eyes and tried to speak with Roxas again for the umpteenth time, _"hey, Rox, do you reckon you can come out, Ven's worried,"_ there was a moment of silence in which Sora thought the other wouldn't answer then, _"sorry"_ it was spoken softly, in a shaky voice, _"that just… surprised me, I guess I should have realised that the Superior would have been the one to have brought them back."_ Sora smiled softly, _"I didn't realise a few things myself, you don't need to feel guilty,"_ _"Y-yeah… I guess, would you let Ven know I'm fine, I was just… startled."_

Sora turned to the blonde, giving him a reassuring smile, "Roxas says he's fine now, and sorry for worrying you, he was just startled by Xemnas' sudden appearance, though, as he said, and I agree, we should have realised that…" he trailed off for a moment uncertainly before continuing resolutely, "that Kairi and Riku and… well… our friends from then, would have probably been involved with Xemnas, since he would have had to have been the one to bring them back."

Ven nodded before asking, "So what was your idea, Roxas?" Sora grinned at that, realising that the blonde wanted to make sure for himself that his twin was fine, apparently Roxas realised that as well, because with a small laugh he took over, "I'm fine now, Ven, Sora told you that," Ven smiled sheepishly, but before he could apologise Roxas started talking again, "Sora spoke to Yuri earlier, and she told him about a friend of hers that didn't live around here. I saw a picture of the girl in her diary, something about keeping photos from her party in there… I don't know… anyway, the girl in the photo, I recognised her. I never met her or anything but… Axel spoke of her," Ven frowned, "then how do you know it's the right person?" "I went to go speak to Axel about something…" he trailed off as he remembered just _what_ he had gone to speak to the older boy about, a blush formed on his cheeks which he quickly forced back.

"I came in and Axel was looking at a photo, he put it away but I got a chance to see the person in it, I found out from Axel that her name was Aya, he had met her recently when he went out to a nearby town," Ven considered this, "and you're _sure_ it was her," Roxas nodded.

Ven thought about for a few moments, smiling as he caught onto his twin's plan, "so, you're saying, if we find out what town this girl lives in, we'll be able to get close to the Organisation's base… assuming that they still operate there, we should be able to figure out where exactly they are very easily."

Sora took over, grinning, "of course they'd still operate there, there wouldn't really be any reason for them to move, the place has all their equipment and everything," Ven frowned, "but what about all the people who escaped, wouldn't they try to get retribution for what happened to them, tell some people, try and get the Organisation arrested?" Sora shook his head, "nothing's happened yet, has it? Clearly, everyone who got away simply didn't want to draw attention to themselves, or they weren't believed, it's possible also that if someone _did_ go to investigate, they would have been dealt with."

Ven nodded, "I suppose you're right, okay then, so do we simply ask them about that girl tomorrow?" Sora nodded, "it seems like the best plan, unless you know where she lives?" Ven considered the question, "I might, you were talking about Aya, right?" Sora nodded, and Ven frowned, "I know she doesn't live around here… I think I heard something about her being in Twilight Town… oh, but Atsuko said she had gone somewhere else," his eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to remember what the girls had told him, after a few moments he looked at Sora helplessly and shook his head, "sorry, I'm not sure, though I know it isn't far from here, they sometimes go visit her on the weekends, if that's any help?"

At that point Roxas spoke up in Sora's mind, _"It narrows it down I suppose, but in truth, it doesn't really help too much, there are way too many places you could get to from here in the weekend"_ Sora dutifully relayed the message to Ven who frowned and sighed, shrugging apologetically, "wish I could be more help," Sora shook his head and grinned, "well, we'll just ask them tomorrow," "But won't they wonder why we're asking?" Sora shrugged, "we'll deal with it if they ask, if they don't, then we won't mention it." Ven sighed, "somehow, I don't think that's going to work."

At that point, Sora's phone buzzed, he started, remembering he had set it to silent he pulled it out and checked to see a new message from his older brother-

_Where are you?_

Quickly he texted back-

_Im Ven's_

Seeing Ven's curious look he quickly explained, "Vani wanted to know where I am," the blonde nodded, making a small 'ah' sound in understanding.

Sora's phone buzzed again in his hand and he looked down to see the new message and giggled at the first thing Vani had said back-

_I told you I hate it when you use that stupid texting slang,_

_You're not an idiot, write properly!_

_It'll screw up your regular grammar as well,_

_If you send me another text like that I'm taking your phone off you!_

_And you should probably come home now, before it gets dark._

He grinned at Vanitas' expected reaction to his texting and sent back a quick-

_Ok, & ur not mum so u cant take my phone_

He turned to Ven, turning off his phone and pocketing it he told the boy quickly, "I better get home, see you tomorrow?" The blonde grinned, "and we'll ask them about it tomorrow as well."

Sora nodded and left.

When he got home he remembered why it was always good to not annoy Vanitas.

* * *

**Vanitas: *glares* I ****_really_**** hate when people use that texting slang, it's the most idiotic thing!**

**Sora: *edging away* y-yeah, but... it's quicker**

**Vanitas: But then you might start using it when you're writing up assignments and such!**

**Sora: Pfft... as if, who'd do something like that?**

**Ven: I did one time, for English too, I nearly failed.**

**Sora: Ah... well...**

**Vanitas: *smirks* I rest my case**

**Roxas: If you're all done arguing about grammar... where's Jessica gone off too?**

**Sora: I think she's sulking about how unsympathetic we were being**

**Roxas: Oh... okay then, that's fine, I was just a little worried, since, if she disappears nothing else will happen with this**

**Ven: True... everyone should review, then Jessica can stop being depressed about silly things and write up another chapter :)**


	6. A Fight With Old Friends

**Firstly, I changed the OC names because they weren't Japanese and it was annoying me,if some of you read this and got confused I'm sorry, I realised just now that I had only changed half the names here so... sorry**

***bows apologetically***

* * *

**Okay... just quickly I'll answer new reviews**

**X-blade025**** - I'm glad you like my writing and my Author Notes and wow, you actually find me funny, I seriously thought I was just typing up random rubbish that no one bothered to read, like... wow... I'm funny, that's a new one for me, so thank you XD**

**AkuBeku**** - You can still have a break if you want, just remember you owe me a chapter, I wanted to upload this so that I could tell people that since school is starting my updates will be slower and stuff**

**And to both of you - Yes, I don't exactly like when people use texting slang, usually because half the time I don't even understand what they're saying, we can all text and email with proper grammar together, hooray!**

**Vanitas: Wait, so you're saying your updates are going to be ****_even_**** slower? So, what? You mean they're just going to stop?**

**I'm... pretty sure I should be offended by that**

**Vanitas: Well if it means you update quicker then be all means do**

***gasps indignately***

**Well excuse me, my inner otaku came out so I've been watching a lot of anime and stuff, and I've read two manga series and started on a third! I think I've accomplished a lot these holidays**

**Oh yeah... I also practiced piano one time as well**

**Roxas: I think you need to sort out your priorities**

**Ven: I'm pretty sure your accomplishments aren't really... something to be proud of**

**Sora: And won't your piano teacher get mad at you for not practicing more?**

**Ehehe... I don't own Kingdom Hearts! Please enjoy this chapter!**

**Vanitas: And she's obviously changing the subject again**

**Roxas: I don't think subtly is in her vocabulary**

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Fight With Old Friends And An Unexpected Saviour**

_'You don't want to fight them… but what if there's no choice?'_

"Why do you want to know where Aya lives?" Sora's grin faltered and Ven groaned, "I knew she would ask us," he muttered. Yuri blushed slightly then frowned, "well sorry for being predictable," she retorted indignantly, "anyone would be curious," Ven smiled sheepishly, "ah, yeah I know, it's not that you're predictable…" Sora rolled his eyes as Ven struggled to pacify the offended blonde, "why _do_ you guys wanna know?" the brunette turned at the sound of the voice to see that Atsuko and Tomi had come over as well, "uh…" he intelligently replied.

Students headed to their bags and lockers, grabbing what they'd need for the night; it was the end of another school day. Sora struggled to think of a reasonable answer, _"um… Roxas? Any ideas?"_ He asked hopefully, the resounding silence answered the question for him. "Ah! Yuri, come on! Don't be like that!" Sora turned to see Sayuri stalking off, a hand raised in farewell to those behind her, the brunette edged over to the despondent blonde, "let me guess, you said something that made it worse instead of better," he grinned, his only response was a glare.

Tomi grinned at her friend's theatrics while Atsuko stared at Ven and Sora curiously, they hadn't answered her question, and she was definitely curious now. She stepped forward, fully intending to find out what she wanted to know when someone bumped into her; she would have been knocked over if the cause of her loss of balance had not caught her. Brown met aqua and Atsuko found herself face to face with the mysterious Riku, she pulled away quickly, heart racing, desperately holding back the blush that threatened to reveal her inner feelings. Riku smiled apologetically, "sorry," a hand raised to rub sheepishly at the back of his neck, "um… Atsuko… right?" She could only nod and the boy smiled once more and walked off.

Atsuko gazed after him, she didn't want to admit it, but something about his smile had been cold, emotionless… dead. She sighed, wondering what he'd look like if he were to smile more genuinely.

It was at that point she realised something.

Her friends were no longer speaking.

She turned to see Tomi gazing at her, sympathy and understanding in the look. Other than Yuri, Tomi was the only one who knew of her feeling for the boy; though when they saw Aya next, she would inevitably be told as well. She turned away from Tomi's gaze, looking instead over to Sora and Ven to see them both watching the receding back of Riku, an unidentifiable emotion on their faces. She frowned, _'ever since Sora has turned up, there have been a few mysteries around, not to mention, Ven's been acting a bit odd,'_ she couldn't shake the feeling that Sora was at the source of it all, that something was going on that she wasn't aware of.

She sighed, _'somehow, I doubt that they would tell me if I simply asked,'_ resisting the urge to frown she started heading to the bag racks, "meet you at the school gates," she called over her shoulder, "I'm going to go get my bag."

* * *

Sora stood with Ven and Atsuko, waiting as Tomi headed out of the school- she had forgotten her small notebook and ended up needing to go back for it, refusing to leave it behind since it had all of her stories and idea in it, even though it was meant for science.

Ven turned to Atsuko, "will Sayuri be walking with us then?" he asked as Tomi stopped upon reaching them, small, purple notebook in hand, Atsuko shrugged, biting back a smile at the boy's morose expression. Sora saw the two girls hared a knowing look with each another before Atsuko glanced over towards the school and followed her gaze to see Sayuri running towards them, he took in the startled expression on Ven's face as the blonde stopped at their little group with a grin, while the other two girls simply smiled as though they had known she would come all along, "of course she would be," Atsuko told the boy, laughing slightly as he rolled his eyes.

Ven regarded the blonde girl cautiously, "you're not angry are you?" he asked uncertainly, Yuri turned to the boy, laughing at his concern, "I wasn't angry in the first place," she informed him. He frowned, "but…" Atsuko rolled her eyes at Ven's expression, "you understand by now that she's at least a _little_ bipolar, I can't imagine her seriously getting offended over what you said" she told him. Ven turned to the brunette indignantly, "well-" "I needed to go talk to my Science teacher, I wanted ask her something about what we learnt in class, I remembered halfway through our conversation and I knew I would forget if I didn't go talk to her quickly," Ven frowned, "then why didn't you mention that?" Sayuri shrugged, "I was just playing around, I didn't think that you would realise and- oh! I think I know why you wanted to know about where Aya lived and everything!"

Sora glanced over sharply, _'surely she couldn't have figured it out,'_ he thought, panicking, _"I doubt it, she probably came up with some other answer that makes sense, I don't think that she could have really worked out the truth, it's a bit too… unbelievable,"_ Roxas replied soothingly, hearing his inner turmoil. Sora calmed slightly, but he was still on edge as he waited for Yuri to explain herself, a quick glance at Ven told him that the blonde was feeling the same as he, "of course, I could be completely wrong," the girl was saying, and Sora just wished she'd tell them their theory already, "well, we tend to mention Aya quite a bit, but neither of you have ever met her so… might you… want to see what she's like?" she looked at the two of them quizzically, as though she had lost confidence in her answer.

Sora exhaled noisily in relief, before making himself smile, "ah yeah, that's it," he chuckled nervously and Ven nodded uncertainly, both purposely ignored the piercing look Atsuko was giving them.

Yuri grinned, "well, that's cool, Aya lives in Radiant Gardens right now," Sora and Ven glanced at each other and Sora smiled at the other's triumphant look, then Yuri started talking again, "you wanna come with us to visit her this weekend?" Sora started, glancing back at her, "this… weekend?" he repeated uncertainly, Yuri nodded and Tomi took over, "we were going to leave on Friday afternoon, and stay the weekend at her place, it'd probably be easier for you two if you just came with us, Yuri's mum is going to give us a lift there, it isn't too far really, well… if you don't walk."

Sora glanced over to Ven desperately, seeing the boy looking to be at a total loss for words, "um… we…" he tried to think of a way to refuse without sounding suspicious, _"why don't you just say you already have something on this weekend?"_ Roxas suggested, "to be honest, I can't help but wonder why you would want to know where Aya lives," Sora turned at the sound of Atsuko's voice, "after all, if you wanted to meet Aya, wouldn't you have asked when she was coming _here_ for a visit?"

Sora didn't need to be told that Atsuko was suspicious of their story, "well…" Ven cut in, "we didn't know if she _would_ come here for a visit, and we didn't want to impose on you guys by asking you to give us a lift to her place," "Didn't it occur to you that she wouldn't necessarily be willing to welcome to strangers- _boys_ at that- into her home?" Ven smiled embarrassedly, "I guess she wouldn't, we uh… didn't really think of that." The brunette narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "it'd be great if we could come with you to visit Aya this weekend," Sora blurted out hurriedly, hoping to distract the girl from her suspicions.

Yuri smiled and hugged Atsuko and Tomi, "this weekend will be a lot of fun," she cried, eyes alight with anticipation. Sora let out the breath he had been holding as the brunette turned away from him and Ven to smile at Yuri's excitement. Being perceptive, being smart isn't usually a bad thing, but in this case, for Sora and Ven, it was.

Atsuko was just a bit too clever.

* * *

They had parted ways with the girls, it seemed Atsuko and Tomi were both going over to Tomi's house for the night, the blonde had invited the other two but Sora had declined, wanting to go over the new information and situation as soon as possible; after a moment's hesitation, Ven had reluctantly done the same. Curious, he had asked Ven about it on the way to his house, the blonde had flushed, mumbling something about how he didn't often get invited to one of the girl's houses since Yuri's mum would probably have a heart-attack if she invited a boy over for the night. Sora couldn't help but notice how the other didn't mention going to the other girls' homes.

They paused at the intersection, right leading to Sora's home, straight on to Ven's and left leading to the beach; Sora turned and grinned at Ven, "we've just been going over to either one or the other's house all week," Ven returned the grin, shrugging, "it was necessary, we'll need to do it again today as well," Sora nodded, "I want to talk with Vanitas there too, so we'll go to my house this time." Ven nodded and started walking down the right road when he heard Sora gasp, he spun to see Sora staring horrified at someone walking down the path towards them.

Sora's eyes widened as he took in the familiar red hair, the blue eyes once filled with warm now dull and flat, "Kairi," he whispered, heart twisting painfully, whatever had happened in the process of bringing her back had changed her, that was for sure. She paused at the sound of her name, looking up at him, she smiled and Sora almost wanted to cry at how fake that smile looked, he wanted to go to her, hug her, shake her, kiss her… something, he wanted to get the normal Kairi back, _"that's what we're gonna try to do,"_ Roxas' words were comforting, and Sora tried to banish the thought that came unbidden to his mind, _'what if we can't?'_

"I was headed to the beach," he snapped out of it, glancing up to see Kairi still looking at him, pointing down the path in the intersection; he swallowed, forcing himself to smile and nod, "ah, I see," Kairi smiled again and Sora felt sick. It was at the point that he heard Ven cry out.

He turned to see Ven lying dazed on the ground, at the feet of his former best friend, realising to his horror that Kairi had simply been distracting him, "Riku!" the taller teen glanced up at him, holding out a hand, "come with us, Sora! It isn't safe for you here!" for a moment, Sora hesitated, Riku sounded so genuine, and he wanted to believe that his friends were back to normal, he hesitantly reached out, _"Sora don't be stupid!"_ starting he pulled back, away from the teen, realising his mistake and silently thanking Roxas for snapping him out of it.

"Sora," he turned to see Kairi looking at him sadly, Riku walked around to stand with her "we don't want to hurt you Sora, just come back with us, the Superior still needs you," he stared at her, "w-why? He can bring people back now, can't he?" Kairi shook her head, "not completely, the process is flawed still, something needs to be healed and none of the Organisation members have the ability to heal it, people who have been brought back, after some time… they die." Sora stared at her horrified, "then… then I?" the red head shook her head, "that's why we need you, you're still fine, they need to find out what's different about you." Sora shook his head, disbelieving, did this mean that Xion, Axel, Riku… Kairi… did this mean that they would all die? He half hoped for some calming words from Roxas, before he realised that the other was as scared as he was. He would be losing people he loved as well, if that happened.

Sora clenched his hands into fists, he couldn't rely on Roxas all the time, _'I'm strong, I'll protect myself, and his twin at the same time,'_ with that thought he backed up, eyes on both Riku and Kairi as they stood still, simply watching him; after reaching Ven he bent pulled one of his arms across his shoulders, pulling him up, backing away from the two and taking the blonde with him.

Riku sighed, "it wouldn't do to harm the only successful project," "but we were told to use force if necessary," Kairi added; Sora stiffened, he didn't want to, he didn't want to hurt his friends, the people he cared about, even if they weren't entirely the same. It was still Riku, it was still Kairi. And they were still important to him.

_'Maybe I can use my magic and blind them both momentarily, then I could take Ven and run,'_ he frowned, _'but I wouldn't be able to get away quick enough, lugging him with me,'_ he bit his lip, it was the only plan he had. The only thing he could do.

Suddenly, Sora became aware of a sound not unlike a waterfall, he started, looking around for the source when a small wave of water appeared and knocked into Kairi and Riku. He watched in shock as they were knocked back; after a few minutes the water had stopped, now in large puddles on the road. Kairi and Riku were nowhere to be seen.

"That was a surprise," he turned at the gentle, yet familiar voice to see a small, blonde haired girl staring at the place Riku had been sadly, next to her was another blonde- a boy this time- with a carefree grin on his face and very… curious hair.

Sora couldn't believe his eyes, but before he could begin to phrase a single sentence, Roxas took over, "Namine?" the boy asked softly, in disbelief, "hey! I'm here too y'know!" Roxas turned to the other boy, surprised, "you should be more grateful," the boy continued, "after all, I was the one who saved your butt just then." Namine frowned, turning to the other boy, "only because I threatened to stop cooking for you if you didn't!"

* * *

They were sitting in Sora's living room; Sora had to give credit when it was due, when he had walked with two strangers, supporting an unconscious Ven between them, Vanitas had only stared at them in shock for about ten seconds before snapping out of it and stepping forward to help them with the blonde.

Sora had been unsure as to whether they should call a doctor or not, since Ven was Roxas' twin, he figured it best to ask him, _"we don't know why he's unconscious yet,"_ the boy's voice resonated through his mind, though Roxas did his best to conceal it, the concern was clear, _"has he been knocked in the head? Or is it something completely different?"_ Sora stepped forward, peering at Ven uncertainly, "if he's been knocked on the head, wouldn't there be a bump?" he asked uncertainly, Namine shrugged helplessly and the other blonde boy- who he now remembered to be called Demyx- merely tilted his head to one side with a 'huh'?

He turned to Vanitas, hoping that the raven would be able to depart some conveniently-known older brother advice. Vanitas hesitated, "uh, maybe…?" and Sora groaned, _'okay… no help from there then,'_ he thought, turning to the blonde lying unconscious, he bit his lip, should they call for help?

_"Hey, Sora? Can I take over for a bit?"_ Sora started before realising, he scolded himself for _not_ realising sooner, _'this is his twin, of __course__ he'd want to be able to check him himself!'_ he hurriedly relinquished his control over his body, allowing Roxas to take over.

Roxas bent down, looking closely at Ven, after a few moments, he let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that there was no blood, and his breathing was regular. He bit his lip before reaching forward and poking the blonde's cheek, "time to wake up, Ven," he whispered, smiling slightly as he remembered that this was how he used to get the other up in the morning when they younger. Before he had been taken away.

For a moment there was no response, and Roxas sighed at his foolishness, _'of course that wouldn't wake him, you just did that without thinking,'_ but for some reason, he had really felt that it would work. There was a groan, and Roxas looked up to see Ven scrunching up his nose, his eyelids twitching as he slowly dragged himself to consciousness.

Ven opened his eyes and looked around to see everyone staring at him with a mix of worry and relief and he frowned, "what happened, why are you all looking at me like I came back from the brink of death?" Roxas smiled and stood up, "you were unconscious, we weren't sure if you were okay or anything," he paused looking at Ven hesitantly, "you are okay now, right?" Ven, noticing the turmoil in the boy's eyes smiled and nodded reassuringly, before sitting up.

"I really owe you one there though, Roxas," a frown, "what do you mean by that?" Ven didn't answer for a moment, looking down at the ground as he contemplated the whole experience, "I don't think I was just knocked out. When I fell unconscious, it wasn't so much just… well… unconscious, I remembered Sora talking to that red-head girl… Kairi? Then suddenly, I felt… some sort of presence behind me, and it was like… I was engulfed in darkness. I couldn't see, I could breathe, I yelled out but no sound seemed to come from my voice. It was like… all my senses had been cut off, like I was floating in nothingness.

"I became overwhelmed by a sense of terror that I couldn't find a source for, and suddenly, it was like I was living out all my fears, the things that I was most absolutely scared of. I saw people I cared about being hurt, being killed," he turned to Roxas, "and I experienced a nightmare that you hadn't really come back, that _this_ was some dream, and really, you were still missing… presumed dead… all over again. Then I heard that wake-up, and… I don't know," he shrugged, "I guess, I kinda just recognised it as the way you use to wake me up when we were little, and I got this feeling like… maybe _this_ is a dream. A vivid one, but a dream nonetheless, so I just… made myself wake up then, but if I hadn't heard that, I'm not entirely sure I would have. Something about it seemed like… it was holding me, and it didn't intend to let go," he chuckled, "it's probably nothing, just a weird dream," he shook his head, "never mind."

"I'm not sure we should just ignore this," he started and looked up to see some unknown blonde girl staring into the distance thoughtfully, "what do you mean? And who are you?" hurriedly, Roxas did the introductions, explaining that Namine and Demyx were from his and Sora's time with Project Kingdom Hearts. They all turned to the girl, introduction forgotten, as she said simply, "I don't know much but… Riku told me a bit about his power and I think it might be the cause of your dream."

* * *

**Yeah... weak ending but it was getting long and I couldn't think of a way to end it.**

***sigh* Aya was meant to come in ages ago, but my writint just... makes this a lot longer than it was meant to be.**

**And yes, Atsuko has a crush on Riku.**

**I have a bunch of OC shippings for Kingdom Hearts (and some other things) that involve my friends, for example... Atsuko x Riku (Atsuko is based of one of my friends, and I have a shipping name for my friend and Riku, no shipping name for Atsuko x Riku... maybe... Riko? AtsuRi? this won't be becoming canon because Namiku I'm saying it now).**

**Tomi x Demyx (again, Tomi is based off a friend who I ship with Demyx, I guess shipping name could be Tomyx, or maybe Demomi, or DemTom). Aya x Axel (AxAy? Ayel?) and there's Sayuri x Ven (SaVen)**

**Obviously the pairings from PKH will stay in here, Namiku, SoKai, RokuShi, and I might have mentions of Terqua.**

**Since I'm talking about the original story, I just thought I should mention, I'm going to re-write it when I get the time to, make it better and stuff, I'll also hav to fix up the thing with Axel's girlriend in PKH since she had a different name originally.**

**Vanitas: 'When you get the time to' meaning you're never going to re-write it**

**Hey! I-**

**Roxas: Will I get to stay in my own body this time around? *puppy-dog eyes***

**Uh...**

***looks away guiltily***

**S-sorry... the plot is staying the same, I'm just... fixing some stuff up... like... yeah... I'm not too pleased with how I wrote it so... uh...**

**Sora: Hey, I know this is off topic but... you are****_ weird_**** Jessica**

**Vanitas: I thought we had already established that some time ago, Sora *smirks***

**Hey!**

**Ven: Well... it seems everyone else is too busy arguing to do this so... review! Let us know what you think!**

**Sora: Yes! Tell everyone how awesome I am!**


	7. The Trip To Radiant Gardens

**Hi guys!**

**OK first off, I am SO sorry, I warned you that the updates would be longer to come, but I didn't think it would take this long sooo... yeah**

**My bad**

**Vanitas: You are so lazy**

**No I'm not! I was doing homework!**

**Vanitas: Right... and tell me, when was Tumblr and anime put on the school's curricular?**

**You- I- I'm not...!**

**Let's answer reviews!**

**Ven: She changed the subject again -.-**

**Roxas: Good Lord**

**So...**

**X-blade025**** - thank you for waiting, I hope you think I did Dem and Nam's story justice, I may have possibly given an explanation that was a bit OOC for her, but it was out of neccesity so... yeah**

**The Awesome March Hare**** - Hi! I'm glad that you like this, Demyx will kind of be going in and out of the story a lot, like Vanitas and the Ocs**

**AkuBeku**** - Hi Bec, um... SaVen is quite possibly, probably going to happen I guess, if I can make it canon, I've thought up... never mind... I'm staying quite, I've already spoiled to much of this for you :)**

**And I am so sorry this is so late, I've owed you this chapter for ages now and I've just... yeah, sorry. I'm finally fulfilling my end of the bargain!**

**Sora: So... when are you going to another chapter?**

**Don't you start now!**

**Roxas: It's kind of important, I mean, we're just stuck in this situation and it's like... nothing's going to happen unless you write so...**

**Well I'm sorry! I'm trying *cries***

**Ven: C-calm down...**

**Vanita: *sigh* what a child...**

**Vanitas: Jessica doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, it appears she had also yet to gain a maturity level appropriate for a fifteen year old.**

**You're not funny Vani!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Trip To Radiant Gardens**

_'You feel scared for the future, regret the past… but what about the present?_

Roxas turned to Namine, brow furrowing, "what do you mean, Riku's power could be…" he trailed off, remembering that Ven had not mentioned being knocked out, Roxas knew what it was like to be knocked out, and Ven's description of suddenly being consumed by darkness didn't match it in the least. He stared at Namine before asking, "What is Riku's power? He never told _me_," _"Sora, did he tell you?"_ there was a moment's silence before Sora replied apologetically, _"I never thought to ask, t felt like I was butting in, and whenever the subject of magic was brought up, he'd get a bit upset. I just thought it was because of the Organisation,"_ Roxas understood what Sora meant completely, they were kidnapped by the Organisation _because_ of their magic, pretty much everyone who had been unwillingly involved in Project Kingdom Hearts didn't like to talk about their powers, they hated the fact that they could do these incredible things.

Because they were the source of their problems, right?

Roxas deliberately sat in one of the armchairs, looking at the girl steadily, "what is Riku's power?" he asked, he already had a vague idea what it might be. Namine sighed, shrugged then replied hesitantly, as though trying to find the right words, "it's kind of feelings… but… dark…" at the uncomprehending looks she received, she sighed again, frowning as she struggle for the way to explain it as it had been explained to her, "um… he can… control darker emotions like anger, fear, sadness and hatred, but… he can also sort of… almost… go into your memories, find your darkness fears your saddest memories and use them against you," Roxas frowned, _'that won't be easy to get around,'_ he thought to himself worriedly, _"we not planning on fighting him, so it should be okay,"_ Sora spoke up. Roxas smiled his agreement, silently praying that that would be how it would turn out.

Vanitas sighed, "well, that's… an interesting ability…" he began, thoughtfully, "then, what powers do you guys have?" he frowned as though a thought had occurred to him, "why are you guys here?" Namine smiled sheepishly, "uh… well, first off, I have the ability to manipulate memories, Demyx can control water," she glanced at Roxas then, "I told you how I was going to go looking for Riku, didn't I?" she asked the boy, who nodded, she turned away, "I heard a rumour that he was going to school here so I…" she sighed.

"It's like this, I was looking for Riku, I wasn't really sure where to find him, then I ran into Demyx, it seems that his family had moved away and he couldn't find out where they had gone, he'd been wandering around with no place to go so I asked him if he wanted to keep me company," Demyx took over, "we found out that some guy named Mr Darke or something had sent his adopted kids to a school here, it seem he's pretty well-known, though I didn't see any pictures of him, I just saw pictures of some of his adopted kids, Riku, Kairi and Xion, I told Namine and she got _so_ excited, she was all going 'oh yay! Thank you so much my dear, exalted Demyx, you have found my future husband," he grinned, oblivious to the way Namine stared at him with disbelief before sighing in acceptance, showing that she was use to this sort of thing now.

Ven frowned, "how did you get the money for all of this?" he turned to Namine, "is your family super rich or something?" Namine looked at the ground, shifting uncomfortably, "I don't… know who my family is, I was taken away when I was really young so… for all I know, they could be rich but then again, they might not be," Demyx- oblivious to the heavy atmosphere merely smiled, turning to Ven and answering the blonde's second question, "Namine can control memories, right? So she just made people _forget_ that we hadn't paid," Roxas stared at the blonde- who was looking a bit red now- asking in disbelief, "you stole?" Namine sighed, looking away guiltily, "only when we _really_ had to," Roxas stared at the girl in amazement; he had never thought she would be the type to do that sort of thing, under any circumstance. _"We know people who have done worse,"_ he started as Sora's voice piped up in the back of his mind, then smiled, _"of course, you're right,"_ he frowned as he realised that he had been in control of Sora's body for some time now, _"sorry Sora, I've kinda been hogging your body,"_ he said to the boy ruefully, only to receive a cheerful, _'no worries, I usually control it most of the time anyway, so if anyone's hogging it, it's me,"_ Roxas privately thought that since it _was_ Sora's body, it would be hard for the brunette to actually be 'hogging' it.

Feeling somewhat guilty he decided that despite what he said Sora would probably want to be able to talk to Namine and Demyx himself he quickly relinquished control before the boy could protest, allowing the brunette to take over once more. Sora sighed, rolling his eyes at the other's antics before turning to brightly greet the two visitors, "hey Nam, hey Dem," Demyx grinned and Namine smiled, over her embarrassment, "hey," they chorused.

"So what happened to them?" Namine finally asked, sadness resonating through her voice, Sora flinched, _'that's right, she didn't find out that they were killed, she would have no idea why they would do something like that… and yet they still saved us, trusting us,'_ he bit his lip, they deserved to know.

"Where do I start…"

* * *

They were staying over at Yuri's house on Friday night, so that they could head out early together, when the blonde had mentioned it to them, Sora had smiled and nodded- hiding the nervous anticipation stirring in his gut- and Ven had blushed and stammered that that would be fine.

Sora stared up at the ceiling, his sleeping bag wrapped around him comfortably, they had explained the situation to Namine and Demyx, she had bitten her lip, and he had frowned, but neither of them had cried or lamented this misfortune, they had accepted it for what it was.

Their plan was another thing entirely; Vanitas had decided that Namine and Demyx should stay at their house with him, that they couldn't go with the two when they went to visit Aya and try to find out where the Organisation's base was. They had complained, but in the end, the same argument that had been used to Vanitas was used on them, the girl's wouldn't know them, Atsuko was already suspicious, they couldn't risk it.

Besides, there probably wouldn't be enough room in the car.

So Namine had unwillingly subsided, and Demyx had nodded unhappily; Sora sighed, they were staying at his place right now, luckily for him, both of his parents were away on a business trip, and if one of them came home and saw either Namine and Demyx, Vanitas could say they were friends of his who were staying over for a bit, they wouldn't be staying long enough to see the lie in his claim.

Sora shifted uncomfortably, glancing over to see Tomi lying near him, sleeping peacefully with a small smile on her face, her sleeping bag was entangled in her legs, dragged down and leaving her top half uncovered, even in the dark Sora could still make out the large bag of lollies in her hand. The air conditioner was on in the room, blasting out cold air that had cooled, then chilled him as the sweat from the day's heat cooled. A glance to the left showed Atsuko facing away from him, lying on the couch, a pillow under her head, a thin sheet lain over her, breathing the slow breath of sleep.

Sora at up, scratching at his sleep-mussed hair, looking out the window he could see the beginning of dawn peaking over the horizon; he yawned, turning to look at Yuri's bed to see the host herself cuddled up with Ven- Yuri had been showing him an anime on her laptop and the two had fallen asleep together. As Sora watched, light gradually filled the room, as it fell on the two blondes asleep on the bed, Yuri wrinkled her nose a little and shifted closer to the boy next to her, Ven in reply, wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer.

Sora smothered another yawn, looking around at the living room they had occupied, now filled with immobile bodies, he rolled his eyes, he was always the first one awake, and it was _so_ awkward waiting for everyone else, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep either, his brain had already dragged itself out of the fogginess of sleep and was alert and hyper as it always was.

"I hate being an early riser."

* * *

Sora turned around as he felt a tentative hand lightly pull on one of his spikes, he turned around to look at Yuri who was smiling guiltily, "yeah?" she shrugged, giving him a sheepish grin, "sorry, but I've always wanted to do that, I've always wondered whether your hair was hard because it was all spiky," she smiled thoughtfully, "but its soft," Sora raised an eyebrow, they were headed towards Radiant Gardens in Yuri's mum's car.

Sora had spent the hours in the morning waiting for everyone's waking to talk to Roxas; he hadn't had much of a chance to just _talk_ about things, things that weren't to do with the Organisation, the situation and the plan. He got a chance to talk to the other boy about the most ridiculous and pointless things, and Sora had enjoyed it.

He had known Roxas pretty well because of their time with the Organisation, but that talk let Sora find out a lot of other things. He learned that one of the big things Roxas had dreamed of doing while in the Organisation was going for a walk, nothing big or amazing. Just a walk around the town, because he wanted to, because he was _free_ to.

Sora couldn't help but think that Roxas couldn't do that now anyway. Because of him. Roxas insisted that it was fine, and that he still had free will, he _could_ do what he wanted. Unwillingly, Sora had conceded that he might be right, simply in the name of continuing the conversation, not out of agreement.

Likewise, Sora had found out that Roxas' favourite food was sea salt ice-cream, he said that something about it was utterly tantalising and addictive, he hadn't been able to have any once he had been involved with the Organisation and the fuzzy, yet warm memory of having it at the zoo with his mum and Ven had kept the desire to once more eat this ice-cream, firmly planted in his mind.

Sora had promised the boy that once this was all sorted out, he'd buy a massive box of sea-salt ice-cream and let Roxas take over and eat as much as he wanted. Roxas warned him that if he did that, when he got control back over his body, he'd weigh about several times more than he already did. Despite his joking tone, Sora had heard the hope hidden, he had smiled and promised that he didn't mind, marvelling at how such small things like walking, and eating ice-cream, could hold such value to the boy.

Their conversation had come to an abrupt halt when Tomi had woken up, springing up and rubbing her eyes, before looking around ad seeing Sora, with a grin, she crawled over and sat next to the boy, stretching languidly, "how long have you been awake?" she asked, curious, Sora shrugged, "some time now I suppose," Tomi nodded, not really hearing the question as she looked at the peaceful sleeping faces of her friends. A wicked grin spread across her face, "hey," she asked, "you wanna draw on them?" Sora started, turning to the brunette to see she was already rummaging around for a pen, "uh, I don't think that would be a good idea," he began, biting back the desire to simply agree and join in, he didn't think it would be good to go and scribble all over everyone's faces.

Tomi ignored him, edging over to where Atsuko was lying, breathing softly, dreaming deeply, Tomi paused, pen poised over the other girl's face, turning to look over at Sora, "what should I draw?" she asked, Sora shrugged one shoulder, fighting against the childish urge to join in, "don't ask _me_," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

Tomi grinned, turning back to Atsuko, "don't even think about it," Sora yelped and Tomi dropped the pen as they recognised the reprimand as Atsuko's. Tomi leaned away from the brunette who sat up to look at them irritably, Tomi grinned sheepishly, "I'm just going to go wake up Yuri and Ven," she said, scrambling away with a giggle.

Sora noticed that she still held a pen in her hand, he turned to see Atsuko smiling slightly, "she's going to draw all over their faces," he told her, she shrugged, "it'll come off," she raised an eyebrow at Sora, "I'm surprised you're not joining in, it seems your type of thing," Sora shifted uncomfortably, "I figured I should try to be mature and stuff," Atsuko nodded, smiling. Sora got to his feet, "unfortunately, it didn't last long," Atsuko just gave a long-suffering sigh as Sora grabbed a pen and ran over to the bed.

The two giggled as they leaned back from their work, Ven now sported a curly moustache, thick eyebrows and a random swirl on his forehead, while Yuri had a goatee and wonky glasses, their giggling finally woke Ven who opened his eyes blearily to look around him.

When he looked down and saw Yuri lying next to him, he turned red and leapt out of the bed, "S-Sora," he stammered, "how long where we…" he trailed off as he realised something, "what did you do to Yuri's face?" he exclaimed, shock evident in his expression, Sora grinned, "you should see your own, I worked hard on it," with a look of dread, Ven rushed into the bathroom, the two smothered their laughter when they heard the horrified cry echoing out.

After that, it had taken them about another hour or so to coax Yuri out of bed, and to convince her to stay up. Apparently, she wasn't a morning person.

Sora felt his lips twitch at the memory, trying not to laugh, Yuri hadn't even realised that she had the scribble all over her face, she had been so confused as to why everyone had laughed when they saw her, "why haven't you just felt Ven's hair? It's pretty much the same as mine," he suggested, turning back to the discussion. Yuri turned red, shaking her head frantically, "it's… uh… I couldn't… it's… not the same," she claimed, her lie obvious in her eyes.

Sora sighed and turned away from the girl, he wouldn't call her out on her fib. He looked to the front when Ven was sitting, next to him was Atsuko, and next to _her_ was Tomi. Yuri had insisted on sitting in the back, saying she was the host and her guests would never have to squish into the back seat while she was around. Sora smiled at the memory of the girl's over dramatic speech.

The smile faded quickly, soon, they would be in Radiant Gardens, they'd find out where the Organisation was, and hopefully see if it was being guarded or protected in some way.

He ignored the fear in his stomach that maybe they no longer where staying there.

* * *

"Aya!

"Yuri! Atsuko! Tomi!"

Sora bit his knuckle to keep himself from laughing as Yuri, Tomi and Aya began to dramatically run to each other in slow motion, before finally reaching one another and giving each other a hug, Atsuko walking calmly behind the two others with a smile on her face. As they all laughed Aya turned towards them and paused, before smiling, "hi!" she said, a bit more calmly, Sora and Ven smiled uncertainly, "um… hi," the blonde began, "my name's Ven, this is Sora."

Aya looked at them both for a moment before turning to Yuri and whispering something to her, Sora was closer, and though he wasn't sure, he thought he could just make out the words, "is this _the_ Ven?" Yuri turned bright red and nodded slightly, Aya squealed, clapping her hands together, "that's so cute!" she said with a smile and Tomi laughed.

As the four girls chatted and squealed, Sora took the opportunity to inspect the girl who had managed to win Axel's heart in the past. She was tall- not extravagantly so like Axel though- her hair was short and dark and parted to one side, she had a bright, friendly smile and was really quite pretty overall, Sora smiled, _"what do you think of her?"_ he asked Roxas, curious, _"she seems quite nice,"_ there was a pause, _'I wonder if she misses him, I don't imagine he would have come to see her since…"_ Roxas trailed off and Sora sighed sympathetically, talking about their deaths was something neither was willing to do.

After all, they were alive now right? Maybe something was a bit different about them, but they were alive, and while they were alive, they could still be helped.

Aya motioned for her guests to follow her as she headed into the house, taking a breath to calm himself, Sora followed, all of that could wait for the moment at least.

* * *

**And there you go, Aya is finally coming in as a person herself!**

**Vani: Took you long enough.**

**Well that's because I-**

**Sora: Yeah, I mean, she was mentioned a bit, and then it took like... what... six chapters to bring her in?**

**I meant to bring her in sooner I just-**

**Ven: And even then, it's only at the end, we get a brief description of her and then its done**

**There was a lot of stuff I had to put in-**

**Roxas: Not to mention, it's probably ****_still_**** going to take ages for things to happen**

**Hey! That's not... ugh... whatever**

**Vani: Maybe if you guys review she'll upload more chapters quicker and we'll start getting to the exciting stuff sooner**


	8. Decisions

**So... I just finished this uber depressing anime last night, and I finished at about eleven thirty and I literally just lay on my bed sobbing my heart out at the ending and I know I did that for more than an hour because I got up to wash my face hoping that it would help me stop crying and it was twelve thirty, then I went back to bed and started to cry some more, that's literally how depressing I found the ending to be like no.**

**Okay so...**

**X-blade025- Thanks for always reviewing, it makes me really happy :)**

**Um... regarding the confusion over who's Axel's girlfriend, he's cheating (no I'm sorry, that was a joke). Really though, I kinda just... I was reading through this and I just... Kingdom Hearts characters have Japanese names and then the OCs were all just... they didn't fit in. So I kinda changed all the OC names to Japanese names on a bit of a whim but still.**

**So... yeah :)**

**Roxas: Well... I don't have anything to say that would make this author note happier**

**Yeah, well of course you wouldn't, I'd be too depressed for something like that anyway**

**Sora: Why not talk to your family about it?**

**Well... I'm pretty sure they're all kinda sick of hearing about my anime and my feels**

**Ven: The pain of being the only fangirl in the family, huh?**

**Yeah... pretty much**

**Vanitas: Either that or you're just annoying in general**

**:O**

**I'll delete you from this story Vani!**

**Sora: No! Don't delete my brother!**

**Sora: Also, Jessica does not own Kingdom Hearts**

**Yeah, it's a shame isn't it?**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Decisions**

_'You're scared for the next step... but you have to do it'_

Sora perched uncomfortably on the edge of the sofa, he looked around at the room he sat in; a large television tucked away in the corner, two patterned couches angled towards it. The room was painted creamy white, lit with a fluorescent light that hanged from the ceiling like a miniature sun. The room was small- cozy normally but with the amount of people currently crammed into it, it was leaning more towards the side of claustrophobic. The house was one level with an extra room a level up that had evidently been added at one point or another, it had a metal, spiral staircase leading up to this room that rose steeply with a bar as a railing. A small bookcase with movies and video games was propped up against the wall, a window with light, green drapes pulled back, overlooked a small garden with a bird feeder and multiple pot plants. In the space in front of the TV, cords and games consoles were strewn haphazardly in a tangled, yet apparently organized mess.

Glancing around, Sora took in the people seated randomly in the room; on one of the couches sat Tomi, who was giggling and joking and throwing her arms around in a haphazard manner, wedged in between two of her friends sat Aya, combatting Tomi's randomly moving arms with her own flailing limbs as they pushed each other and made faces and Aya joked about a dream she had recently concerning some movie called... Howl's Moving Castle? Atsuko was smiling and laughing quietly, unsure about some of the things Aya was mentioning due to her having not yet seen the movie, but listening intently all the same. Yuri sat perched on the sofa armchair, alternating between listening and laughing with her friends and gazing longingly at the spiral staircase, Sora couldn't help but wonder what was up there.

When Aya suddenly announced they would be having a Studio Ghibli marathon that weekend, a small cheer went up through the girls, Sora had merely watched in confusion, a glance at Ven to his left beside him showing that he wasn't the only one who was lost. Sora sat on the couch opposite to the girls with Ven, as the four spoke, Sora saw Ven fidget before leaning forward uncertainly and grabbing a chip from the plate set out on the small table placed between the two sofas; Sora shifted for possibly the fifteenth time that afternoon, he had found upon first seating himself on his end of the couch that it had somehow been broken, he had sat down only to immediately sink into the couch until his knees bumped awkwardly into his chest, after letting out a yelp of surprise he had struggled and flailed uselessly for some moments before Ven helped him free himself.

"Now, where should I put you?" Sora was startled out of his thoughts at Aya's sudden question, he turned to see the girls looking at him and Ven with varying degrees of consideration. He threw a questioning glance at Ven, only to receive an uncomprehending look in reply, Aya kept speaking, "normally it's just these guys who come and invade, I'm not too sure where to let you sleep," at this, Yuri spoke up, "one of them can have my bed, I can sleep upstairs, the other girls started laughing, "of course you would say that," Tomi chuckled. Sora was really confused now, what was up there?

* * *

Aya had finally taken pity on Yuri and decided they could all go upstairs to the small room in the top floor. Upon entering the room, Sora had realised why the girl had been so eager to go. His head poked up through the round entryway and he had turned to find himself confronted with a small bookcase. After climbing up the final steps and sinking his feet into the soft carpet, Sora saw this room held an abundance of reading material; two of the walls were merely shelves that groaned under the weight of the various books they had been burdened with. In one corner was the entrance- accessible only by the spiral staircase- half of the connected wall had a bookcase full of manga leaning against it. The final wall wasn't so much a wall as it consisted mostly of a large window, set back in a depression to the wall; cushions and small couches were scattered haphazardly around the room to allow a person to read if they did not desire a window view. It was cluttered and cramped, however the large window relieved a sense of claustrophobia, instead, giving the room a comfortable, safe presence.

Sora glanced over to where Aya was proudly displaying some of her newer books and manga to her friends, "can I borrow some of them?" Yuri asked pleadingly. As Atsuko joked that Yuri only came along on the visits for the books, Sora heard a slight chuckle and turned to see Ven gazing over at the girls- namely one particular blonde- with a gentle but bemused expression on his face, the corners of his mouth slightly uplifted into a small smile. As though feeling another's gaze on him, Ven pulled his eyes away from her and looked at Sora, blushing upon realising that his staring had been discovered. At Ven's anxious look, Sora grinned and shook his head, signaling that he wouldn't tell Yuri that someone had been watching her.

But that didn't mean he was going to leave things be.

Sora walked over to the other boy, fully intending to interrogate the blonde until he admitted to his crush, as though realising his plan, Ven's eyes widened and before Sora could say anything the blonde whispered quickly, "we need to find out where the Organisation might be," Sora paused, frowned then sighed. Ven was clearly only saying this to distract him, but he had a point. After a moment's thought he suggested, "we could maybe try to ask Aya about it, she's the ideal person since she's actually from here," Ven snorted, "and what do we say to her? Ask if she's seen any evil organisation bases around anywhere?" Sora shook his head, "obviously not, but… there must be _some_ way we can…" he trailed off, "_Sora?"_ the brunette started as Roxas spoke up in his mind. The other had been quiet for so long he had thought he had fallen asleep. With a surge of hope he realised that Roxas must have an idea, "_what is it, Roxas?"_ he asked eagerly, he could hear the smile in the other's voice as Roxas replied, "_if you just think about it logically, the Organisation have been here a long time and they'd hardly appreciate people walking in on them, so they must have done something to keep them away. And often, in a situation of unexplained happenings… well… basically, here's what I think…"_

* * *

"Local ghost stories?" Aya looked at them skeptically, "why would you want to know about that?" Sora leaned forward as eagerly a he could, "because me an Ven are actually really into that sort of thing, we were just wondering if this place had any mysteries or anything, we thought it would be cool, you know, stories of place people can't get to, maybe like there's some kind of barrier surrounding it or something." Aya raised an eyebrow, "well that's awfully specific," she muttered, she looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head, "in Radiant Gardens, ghost stories aren't really that much of a thing," Sora felt his heart sink until Aya continued, "there is _one_ story that I know of though," he looked up eagerly, "yeah?"

"There's this place," she explained, "set back a bit from here, apparently it was like a castle or something? Anyway, there was this guy who lived there all his life, then some person, a famous scientist… I… think… uh, yeah, anyway, this famous scientist, he asked to buy the place from the guy who lived there. The other guy said no and despite what he was offered, what was said, his answer remained essentially the same. Apparently the owner died, from some kind of illness I heard, and the scientist wound up buying it, I don't know what happened to the guy in the end, just that ever since, anyone who tried to go there would either end up back in their home with no recollection of their time spent there," she paused, "or they didn't come back at all. People think that it's the deceased owner's spirit, refusing to let _anyone_ onto the property of his home, out of outrage for his final wish being ignored," she shrugged, "that's how it goes anyway."

* * *

"It sounds like the right place," Sora said to Roxas and Ven, "I mean, the scientist could even be Xemnas and the fact that the man 'mysteriously died' when he refused to sell the house to him," Ven nodded, "so do we try to go there?" Aya had advised them to stay away from the place, but despite her misgivings they had convinced her to explain exactly where the house was. "_I think we should at least check it out, if there are barriers we'll turn back,"_ Roxas suggested, Sora relayed Roxas' words to Ven who nodded slowly, "is there a way to tell where the barriers are?" the blonde asked with a slight frown. Sora frowned, "_I know how to recognize the barriers because of the planning for the escape,"_ Sora smiled in pleased surprise, "Roxas can tell where they are," he told Ven.

The blonde grinned, "that's great," Sora nodded, "so, I guess we'll have to check it out tonight."

* * *

Tomi glanced at Sora and Ven and frowned, the two boys were smiling and eating dinner enthusiastically, but despite how they were acting she could feel the tension oozing off them both, she glanced at the others around the table and saw the worried looks and frowns, she wasn't the only one who noticed something strange was going on.

They were having cheese and egg pasta- never meat at Aya's place, she was a vegetarian- the meal had started off on an upbeat note, she had been looking forward to the Ghibli marathon and she knew she wasn't the only one, but now… she shot a look at the two boys once more and sighed, she couldn't help but feel that ever since Sora had arrived, strange things were happening and she was annoyed because she didn't know what they were. It was a though some kind of exciting chance was passing her by, and she didn't know how to stop it.

The cutlery on the table rattled as the two boys- one blonde, one brunette- stood up suddenly, "wow, dinner was really tasty," Sora said with a grin, "thanks Aya," said girl glanced at them and nodded, "it's fine." Ven made a show of yawning and stretching, "well, I'm really tired now," he said with a small smile, Sora smiled also, "well isn't that a coincidence, I'm kinda tired too, I think I'll go to bed," Ven nodded. Tomi glanced over to where Atsuko was looking at them with a raised eyebrow in the typical look of skepticism. As the two boys walked out of the room Tomi sighed, '_they don't even realise how bad they are at lying'_ she thought with a shake of her head. Atsuko looked over at her and rolled her eyes, both of them had realised that the boys hadn't come because they had wanted to meet Aya, it looked like they were going to head off to do whatever they were planning now.

She leant into her hand, "so…" she began, drawing the attention of everyone around the table, "you guys wanna follow them or what?"

* * *

Roxas smiled nervously at Ven, Sora had handed over control of his body to him the instant they had got outside, "you ready?" the blonde asked, and Roxas nodded, telling himself that they had to do this. Even if he was frightened.

Because he _was_ frightened.

To be honest, Roxas had always be unsure as to whether or not they'd be able to they'd be able to save their friends, but now that they knew the location (possibly) and had a definite course of action, the enormity of what they were trying to do had sunk in. He felt himself shrink against the impossibility of their plan's success.

"Okay then," Roxas looked up to see Ven gazing at him with a determined yet reassuring smile, as though he understood his younger twin's fear. Roxas drew himself up, they _would_ succeed, and they _would_ save their friends, he wouldn't even _consider_ their failure.

He couldn't.

"Well, let's get going then," he said softly, and Ven smiled and nodded.

* * *

Kairi walked along the corridors of the castle, her home, though that was a rather relative name. Her home was wherever the Superior said it was.

Her mind was cluttered with memories of the brunette they had been sent to capture, Sora. For some reason his very name seemed precious, and she saw that in the past, she had certainly felt something for him. She remembered how just seeing him could make her smile, she remembered how his ridiculous hair and his goofy smile would always fill her with that warm yet now foreign feeling of affection.

She would have preferred that they needn't bring him back, she knew that if he was brought back here, it would be to a world of pain and experiments and she didn't necessarily feel any desire to cause him harm. But she didn't particularly feel much at all anymore.

She had been told that if they could just figure it out, how to fix the broken link, she would be able to feel again, she would be able to live again. But they needed the brunette Sora for that.

So it was a necessary sacrifice.

Yet despite that, she was aware that she wasn't attempting to pursue the boy with all of her abilities, neither was Riku. For Riku's power to work he has to make eye contact with the person and he can only defeat one person at a time, those are his two weaknesses. But once he renders one person unable to fight back, once they have officially been dragged into the darkness, he no longer needs to focus on them, it is almost impossible to bring them back out into the light. The darkness is very hard to beat.

But when they had last attacked the boy, Riku had dealt with his blonde companion, he could have defeated Sora as well, he could have forced him to lose consciousness and he could have dragged him down into the darkness, the brunette had been looking right at him. But for some reason, Riku did not use his power.

Technically, Kairi had been obligated to tell the Superior about Riku's failure when they returned, however, she hadn't. Because she was guilty of the same deed.

She had powers similar to Riku, though she didn't particularly specialise in the darker side of the emotions, her powers were essentially the same as his, with the same kind of weaknesses too. Had Riku not dealt with Sora, theoretically, _she_ could have.

But she didn't.

And she still does not quite understand why she didn't.

And as they reported the failure of their mission, she had shared a look with her silver-haired companion and the had both understood, both of them had chosen not to harm Sora, both of them had chosen to not use their powers on him, and both of them had chosen to omit that particular detail from their report.

Kairi walked on through a large archway and found herself outside, she walked along the wall of the castle for some time, before she ran into the raven, Xion. The girl looked up at Kairi and nodded before moving past her, Kairi watched her go. Xion had been the first to be brought back to life, then it had been Riku, then it had been her, then Axel. Apparently they had thought having the four of them there on their side would assist their attempts to bring Sora back to the Organisation.

Just as Kairi habitually stayed with Riku, Xion mostly stayed with Axel, sometimes, they would converse, and in truth, the four of them got along better with each other than with any of the other projects. Maybe it was because of the shared memories they had of precious ones.

Even though now, they couldn't exactly feel what they once did about these people, it passed the time to try and pretend they could.

Kairi turned back to go inside once more, she saw Xion now walking with the tall red head Axel, the two walked in silence, and Kairi could tell they were thinking of one of their companions, a boy called Roxas. Kairi had also known the boy, he had been nice, if rather quiet and maybe a bit unsociable at first. He had died in the process of bringing Sora back to life and if she could have, Kairi would probably felt sorry for the two, she would probably have also felt sadness at the loss of a friend.

She turned her back on them and headed inside, she couldn't feel, so she couldn't be sad or sorry or happy or angry.

Which is why next time, they would have to capture Sora properly, so that they could feel, and so that they could _live_.

* * *

**Yeah so... you got a few POVs from people who we haven't really gone into too much detail for. And isn't that interesting about Kairi and Riku? And they think Roxas is dead, huh F3**

**Sora: You know, for someone who wasn't even going to write a sequel...**

**Roxas: You're putting an awful lot of effort into it**

**Ven: Yeah, I mean, by the time you're done it's gonna be the length of an actual book, not to mention the rewritten version of PKH will also kinda be the length of a book**

**Hm... I suppose you're right**

**Vani: Wait, so you were initially going to leave it as it was, with everyone pretty much dead and Sora without his memories and stuff?**

**Hmm... I suppose when you say it like that it sounds a little unfinished.**

**But basically, well...**

**Okay, fun fact guys, I literally just wrote PKH because I got the idea for the ending after I found out what happened with Roxas having to return to Sora's body. I literally just wrote PKH so that I could do the ending.**

**:D**

**But of course, I unintentionally told Bec a few things that were going to happen and she said how I had better write a sequel so I worked out how the sequel would kinda go, then I started putting certain things into PKH (for example, the thing with the necklace and Xigbar, and the chapter with Axel and Aya) so that if I felt like it, I could write a sequel.**

**To be honest, though I basically know what I'm doing, some of the stuff that happens is kinda made up on the go, like having the girl follow Sora and Ven, the idea hadn't even occured to me until I was typing the story from Tomi's POV so... yeah :)**

**Anyway, review please guys!**

**I have a lot of stories to work on and a bunch of different projects to focus on so I'm telling you now, whatever story I get the most reviews on, I'm probably gonna do the most work on.**

**Just saying**

**:)**


	9. Lost Light

**I almost forgot to upload ahahaha!**

**Sorry**

**But wow... I haven't uploaded this for a while, really am sorry about that, to be honest, I actually wanted to get all the chapters written up before I started updating this constantly. I haven't finished writing yet, but I figured its been... what three months since I did anything for this (oops).**

**Yeah...**

**I cut my finger on my chair which really hurt (since I know you're all so very interested in what's going on in my life). I accidentally managed to cut underneath the nail and man that hurt, its still kinda bleeding and its making typing somewhat painful.**

**Oh! I also discovered that is quite possible to accidentally cut oneself on a safety razor (*wondrous voice* the more you know~) and that it HURTS A LOT.**

**But that's enough about me...**

**Um... I... there are quite a few new POVs in this... um... idk what to say about this chapter since its been so long since I wrote it ahaha.**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and... yeah.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Lost Light**

_'What is there but darkness when the light goes away?'_

"So are you sure this is where they'll be headed?" Aya turned to Tomi who had asked the question and shrugged, leaning against a tree, "it's not that I _know_ they're coming here, it's just that they were asking about it earlier today and seemed very keen on knowing its exact location, if they don't come here then that's probably for the best," Tomi nodded, "I suppose we can always ambush them and _force_ them to tell us where they went if they don't come this way," Aya grinned, "you know, we could always just go back, I mean, I know they weren't in their room, and I know you said that we would arrive here before them, since they'd have trouble navigating the town in the town and stuff, but like you said, they might not come and we've been here for _ages_," Tomi and Aya turned to look at the disgruntled blonde who was sitting on the ground, Atsuko bent down and papped Yuri's cheek lightly, "oh stop," she scolded, "it's not even been five minutes."

Yuri shifted, frowning, "well, maybe it's stupid of me, but I don't particularly like sitting out here in the _dark_, in some typically spooky forest at the bottom of a hill that's meant to be in a horror story and from the look of it, I doubt we're the main characters, and you know what happens to side characters in horror stories," Atsuko rolled her eyes, but before any of them could say anything, Yuri answered her own question, "they either die or they're like… the neighbours next door wondering why everyone in the house over is screaming, it kinda depends on the horror movie," the girls glanced at each other before making an executive group decision to ignore the blonde from then on.

Atsuko leaned against a tree, "it's interesting how the sun stays up so long here," Tomi nodded, "so why do you think those two are so eager to find out about this place?" Atsuko shrugged, "who knows what's going on with those two, I don't know why they were so eager to find this place, but I know that there is definitely a lot that goes on around us that we never realise, a lot of people are blind to what's really happening in the world, and though in some cases, ignorance would probably be preferred over enlightenment, I for one, would just like to understand things a little better, I'm not saying I want to know everything, but if my friends are involved in something dangerous, I'd like to know, maybe I wouldn't be able to do anything to help, but I think I'd like the chance to try."

Aya glanced at her before grinning, "well look at me, my name's Atsuko and I'm smart and philosophical," she said teasingly, Atsuko rolled her eyes and made to reply when Yuri's voice piped up, "you realise someone's coming this way right," she said conversationally. The others turned in surprise, suddenly realising how light it was they ducked behind some trees, choosing to ignore how utterly pointless the gesture was since they were already well-hidden.

"Is it them?" Tomi asked, brushing aside some foliage, Aya- the one closest to the approaching figures- peered forward before nodding, "I think it is," she whispered furtively. They quietened as the boys approached, despite their light-hearted approach to the situation, not one of them could claim to have no interest in what the two were up to, and none of them wanted to be found out until they understood why the boys were visiting the forest.

The girls were silent as the two boys- one blonde; one brunette- passed them, beginning to climb the mountain. They watched as the two clambered over vines, and slipped through branches- any paths long overgrown- heading up the hill, into the darker parts of the forest.

"Well," Aya said softly, turning back to the other three girls, "no point standing round here, we better go follow them."

* * *

Sora glanced around uneasily at the darkening forest, he was grateful they had decided to eat dinner early, if they had set out later then it would already have been dark when they arrived, he was having trouble dealing with it as it was. Of course, there was the issue of the girls wondering why they were going to bed so early then, but he intended to cross that bridge when he came to it, he was fairly certain he was an _excellent_ liar.

"Hey Ven," he said softly, head whipping around at the sound of a branch snapping, "yeah?" Sora's eyes scanned the increasing darkness, "do you think there's someone fo-" "no I don't, let's not think about that okay?" Ven interrupted in a strained voice, Sora nodded, following the blonde as they climbed steadily, "I wonder how they manage to travel here and back easily," the brunette spoke aloud, trying to distract himself there was silence for a few moments before Ven answered, "I think it's probably something like… well, don't most of them have magic and stuff, so… you know, they'd manage, besides, the Superior is some kind of famous, successful scientist right? He probably has like… an invisible helicopter or something, as for Xion and all of them, they probably stay at Destiny Island for the week and come back here over the weekends… or maybe they stay at Destiny Islands permanently? I don't know."

Sora nodded, slipping under a branch, he heard a loud crack and looked up sharply, he hadn't been mistaken this time, someone else was definitely walking around on the mountain, he glanced at Ven whose wide eyes looked back, there was another crack, softer, but still audible, their heads whipped back around to look up the hill, "I think someone's coming down," Sora whispered softly.

* * *

Xion gazed perplexed at the light that surrounded her hand; floating, ethereal tendrils that spread out through the forest and lit up the darkness. Even before death, she had always wondered how it was she was able to do such a thing, she knew how to concentrate, how to manipulate the light, how to control it but she didn't understand was _why_ she could do this. Now, of course, it was no more than an idle curiosity, the raven wasn't able to convince herself to feel more than that; there was no silent, inevitable joy at the way the light followed her command, she remembered that in her life before, she had believed light to be a source of happiness, that it could vanquish the darkness in a person's heart and bring light and laughter to their life once more. But now she saw, her powers were simply a means to an end, she would use them to fulfil her task, in the small way she could; she did not believe that light powers could be very effective in a battle, to her knowledge, they were a more passive form of magic, as a result, if she were to fight, she would team up with another- usually Axel- and provide aid and support.

She knew that the boy they were pursuing had magic like hers; she also knew that the boy who had been used to bring him back had magic like hers.

She glanced at Axel, he was walking with her along the edges of the forest, she knew that he remembered the blonde boy, the one who had been quiet and unfriendly, but kind despite the appearances he put up. When she thought about him, she could almost believe she could feel things, she almost thought she could be passionate about things, and she almost thought that she maybe wished she could talk to him again.

If only to ask him how he managed to make her feel so strongly before; she was curious as to whether he was truly the boy she remembered, the sweet, awkward, adorable boy who she had given her entire heart to. Sometimes, when things were quiet and she had been left to her thoughts too long, she'd begin to wonder if maybe he'd be able to return that heart to her.

She wondered if he'd be able to make her feel again.

The light flared brighter for a moment before she strode forward into the forest, she would often find herself seeking out darkness, attempting to vanquish it with her light, for some reason, it reminded her of the blonde, she felt closer to him.

The sound of cracking leaves caused her to turn, Axel was following her, his expression was blank, no questions as to why she had suddenly plunged into the forest, simply there, keeping an eye on her. She wondered for a moment at the notion, she knew that initially, she had not had any particularly strong feelings about the red head, he was not someone she had been eager to spend time with. But she knew that, towards the end, she had come to accept him. What's more, she had come to see him as a friend.

But now she wondered how he felt about her, it was true that she often found herself seeking out his company, both because of the way his presence reminded her of the times with the other boy, and because of the fact that she simply felt drawn to him, as though some small part of him still felt an allegiance to him. But she wondered if the red head felt the same way, did he simply accept her presence? Her partnership? Or did he prefer her company? Did he experience moments of thought, of reminiscence? Did he spend time with her because of the way her presence reminded him of the blonde?

She didn't know what the truth was.

The light sputtered before dying out completely, Xion ignored it, walking on in the darkness; Axel walked behind her not saying a word, not suggesting they turn back or that she light up their path once more. Silently accompanying her.

He remembered the blonde boy who had been their friend.

But did he ever think about him? Wonder what would happen if he was there with them?

Did he ever wonder what it would be like, if the blonde had been brought back to life like they had? If he was cold and emotionless like they were. Did he ever think how it was maybe better he hadn't been brought back, if that was to be his fate, because the idea of that one pure memory being tainted was too awful to bear?

She looked around now at the darkness and decided that if she had been able to feel, she would hate it right now. And she wondered, if Axel shared her sentiments, was he thinking-as she was- about how the darkness had swallowed the light? Was he thinking about how similar it was to the way death had swallowed their friend? Was he thinking about how the blonde's name now was precious, because it was one of the only solid things left about him? Was he wondering how much he had forgotten of the time spent together? Was he looking into the darkness now and seeing a future that was inescapable, because without light there is only dark, and that light had gone now.

_Roxas_ was gone.

And she thought she maybe felt a _little_ of something about that.

* * *

Ven was beginning to think that the whole idea to try and check out the Organisation's base had been a bad idea, his mouth was dry and his heart pounded as he strained to see ahead, Sora stood next to him, but Ven was only vaguely aware of presence. It was different to the times they had been attacked, those had happened so quickly it was over before he could work out just what to feel (not to mention he had been unconscious for most of the second attack), this time, there was ample time to sweat, feel sick, and begin to shake, there was even enough time to wonder if they should maybe turn around and leave it behind.

But Ven shook his head at the thought, glancing at Sora for a moment before turning back to where the crackling of leaves and snapping of twigs was coming from; these people had hurt his little brother, they had hurt his friend, they had broken his family, they had caused endless harm to others. And they didn't even care.

So he couldn't let them get away with it, he didn't know what he could do, he had no magic and last time- though it had been by surprise- he had been taken out almost immediately to his great embarrassment. But he knew he wanted to do his best, his best to protect his little brother, because that's what a big brother should do.

And no matter whom it was- or what- he planned to fight them whole-heartedly if they tried to harm either of them.

He didn't expect to see the raven and the red head walking out of the shadows though.

* * *

Xion walked through the forest, paying no heed to the noises she made- it was likely they were alone out there so why did it matter? She debated heading back, why was she wandering around aimlessly anyway? What was the point? She glanced back to Axel and considered asking him, he seemed fine with simply following her decision though, Xion supposed it was because neither of them had a specific task to do, so he had probably decided to simply wait away the time like this, humouring the whimsical fancies of a little girl.

She paused as she heard a snapping up ahead, followed by fervent whispering, she turned to Axel and raised an eyebrow in question. The only response was a shrug so she turned once more, back to the sound, walking forward. She could tell by the way the noise had suddenly stopped that they had been alerted to her presence; they hadn't reached the wards or protection barriers yet, so maybe she could convince them to turn around.

It wasn't so much out of kindness as it was that she was aware dealing with them would be a waste of time, if whoever it was climbed the mountain, they would have to be killed. The memory girl was no longer around to deal with them, so if they had no magic, that would be the end; if they were like Xion and the others well… the Superior had mentioned that he was beginning to search for new test subjects.

She slipped past a tree and paused, staring; she couldn't feel things, but she decided that if she could, she'd be surprised right now. Because whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been the sight she had come across.

In front of her, eyes wide with horror, was the brunette boy, Sora, and the one who looked so much like her blonde, Ven; from what she had heard, the blonde was actually his twin.

She felt Axel pause behind her, she knew he was gazing at the two boys, she wondered if he felt any curiosity at their presence. Sora glared at them, holding up a hand, Xion watched as light spilled from it, "I'm ready to fight you know," he told them, but his voice quavered, and Xion knew that he did not want to fight a friend. She had no such qualms however, she knew that it was because of this boy, that her blonde was gone, she knew that once, she had quite liked him, considered him another friend. She knew that his friendship had made her boy happy, and she knew that he had been a nice person.

She did not feel particularly anything about anymore, but she wondered if she would hate him, if she had been able to, was she the type of person to do something like that? To hold a grudge and blame others for her loss? She did not truly know, she could no longer judge such a thing.

But she knew that she would carry out her duty without hesitation, because it was the reason she had been brought back, she would not fail. She did not attempt to immobilise the two immediately though, he eyes felt draw back to the blonde and she couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two. She wondered if her blonde would have been upset, if they killed Ven- because that was what they would inevitably have to do- and she realised that it was an obvious question. He would, of course, because he hid his emotions, but he _felt_ more than any of them did. And Xion wondered if that was why he gave up his own life to save Sora's.

She wondered why he didn't try and save her instead.

And she knew that she maybe felt a little of something at that.

And the four of them stood motionless, waiting to see who would make the first move.

* * *

**Yeah... sorry to anyone who's been reading this train wreck of a story. Do I still have readers or have you all given up?**

**Oh! And to X-blade025; okay, first of all, sorry for taking so long to respond to your review. Um... the anime that had me crying my eyes out was... I think it might have been Marawu Penguindrum? The ending of that was really quite depressing, I would not recommend it... which is saying something since it had been recommended to me by one of my followers in the first place.**

**Your question about the four girls was hopefully answered with this chapter? Aya knew her way around way better than the boys and she had a good idea as to where they were headed. No one's going to comment on the fact that there are people walking around the town and she knew a short cut meaning they could get there before Sora and Ven (should the two boys actually be headed there). For Aya, it was kind of like... as long as they weren't trying to go up the hill, that was okay, so on the off chance that she was wrong in her guess as to their destination, well... it wouldn't matter?**

**Yeah...**

**Ahaha... spell check sucks, but it can be useful. Since your Sora keeps being changed to Dora, when you get the chance, you should look up 'Sora the Explorer' on Youtube, I laughed till I cried when I first saw that :P**

**The chapter bet with Bec is gone, null, void... whatever other words can be used to mean that also. She basically decided to rewrite her fanfic, so... I'm just... uploading whenever?**

**Finally, an egg isn't a meat. It's like how human females have eggs inside of them and there's the opportunity to fertilise them once a month or whatever. If the egg isn't fertilised, it just... stays an egg? Its essentially the same for chickens, you can tell when they have eggs that have legit baby chickens in them because they get 'clucky' (idk if that's the proper word for it but that's what we call it) they essentially refuse to leave the nest, they start to guard other chickens eggs also and basically just become really moody and annoying because then you have to basically lever them up with a stick to get the eggs because they're refusing to move and let you get at the normal eggs. And usually all you get is a peck and a bleeding finger for your troubles. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure the yolk and stuff in the egg is basically meant to be food for the chicken, I mean, in a woman's stomach, the baby gets its food from whatever the mother eats, that isn't the case for the chicken, if the egg isn't fertilised its basically just... protein or something? Don't quote me on this stuff guys. I've probably gotten something wrong in here.**

**So yeah, there are people who don't eat eggs (and I'm not referring to people who just don't like eggs) and they're vegans, vegans tend to not drink milk either, or eat butter... they basically don't consume anything that comes from an animal.**

**Wow... I went on a lot there... uh...**

**heh**

**Well just... review I guess? Let me know if I still have readers and stuff**


	10. Light Returned

**So it's late at night and I'm tired and just want to get my work done, but I was checking out my voting thing and I saw that a few people had asked for me to work on Project Kingdom hearts Sequel and I felt kind of guilty. I'm actually up to Chapter Sixteen, but I kind of wanted to get it written before I started uploading it, but I think that's probably a bit unfair to ask those who are reading to wait for me to finish before they start to get new chapters.**

**But anyway, this is the next chapter so yeah.**

**Well, I hope you guys like this and I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

**I used to have conversations with the characters then I forgot... I think I've left them somewhere... Oops.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Light Returned**

_'When you're stuck in the darkness just remember… light will always prevail'_

Ven's eyes flickered from Sora to Xion and Axel then back again, he realised with a sinking sense of despair that in this fight, he could- once again- be easily defeated. His gaze turned to the raven and was surprised to see the girl staring at him, a blank expression on her face, Ven swallowed nervously, was she deciding the quickest way to kill him? To get him out of the way so that they could worry about subduing Sora?

He felt horribly certain that if she attacked, there wouldn't be much he could do, _'I'm a hindrance to this,'_ he thought, gaze flicking to the brunette beside him, _'not only does Sora have to fight against two people, but he has to worry about me too!'_ he wanted to groan, _'so much for protecting my little brother,'_ no one was making a move though.

Ven wondered at this, why hadn't Xion and Axel attacked yet? Clearly they understood they had the advantage?

Xion stepped forward and the two boys tensed, her gaze was still on Ven and he felt uncomfortable under the weight of her passive stare, what was she thinking? "You should leave," she said softly, Ven started, "w…what?" he asked, a frown forming on his face, Xion's eyes momentarily flickered back to Axel, Ven realised that she was gauging his reaction and he couldn't help but wonder, was this something she shouldn't be doing?

"We are going to win," she said simply, "and we will subdue the target and you will have to be killed while he is taken away, that would be pointless, I am offering you this chance to leave now, before you have to get injured," Ven clenched his fists, "as if I would leave, I'm not going to just let you take them back with you to that place!"

Xion paused, an eyebrow raised, "them?" she repeated, her monotone voice colouring slightly, Ven frowned, didn't they know? His eyes slid to Sora, wondering about the boy's reaction to all of this.

That was when he realised it wasn't Sora standing next to him anymore.

* * *

Xion's eyes were drawn away from his twin, she looked at Sora and realised that something about him was different.

* * *

Roxas gazed at his two friends, when their eyes moved to him he smiled slightly, "hey you two," he greeted, raising a hand partway before awkwardly lowering it, he watched as Xion's eyes widened, and Axel took a step back, he waited while they both recollected themselves and winced when their faces settles back into blank expressions, "what is this Sora?" Xion asked, Roxas shook his head, "not Sora, not anymore, it's me… Roxas," an eyebrow rose, "and how is it you? We were told you were killed in the process of bringing Sora back to life," Roxas shook his head hopelessly, "well I, uh, wasn't? I don't really know why but… I mean… my body _was_ destroyed but my soul just… attached itself… to… Sora's… body…" he trailed off, realising how odd it sounded.

Both of them were gazing at him passively and Roxas was beginning to hate the look a little, he wanted to shake them, he wanted to go over and kiss Xion, hug Axel, try and get some kind of reaction out of them.

But he stayed still.

Waiting to see what Xion would say.

There was silence for a few long minutes before someone spoke, but it wasn't Xion, "using fire magic in a forest would be dangerous," Roxas glanced up at Axel to see the red head looking at him curiously, his eyes widened, was he suggesting…?

Xion seemed to think the same thing because she turned to Axel and nodded, "quite right, if you were to use your power the whole forest would burn down, we need to be very discreet and not draw attention to ourselves, as for me, without Axel's fire I'm afraid we'd be somewhat equal," she turned back to the two boys as she said this, her face was still blank but Roxas thought he could see a hint of something in her eyes.

"I suppose we'll have to let you go this time," she said, "since there's nothing we can really do," she gave them a warning look, "but you had better turn right around, it wouldn't do for our target to be… killed by… bears," Roxas saw her glance over at Axel, he saw the slightly imperceptible shrug the red head gave.

"You both…" he began uncertainly, he wanted to run over and hug them both, ask them to come back with them, but Ven was grabbing his arm and dragging him away, telling him not to push his luck, that they had confirmed the Organisation's whereabouts so now they should get out of there before either of the two change their minds.

Reluctantly, Roxas turned away and followed his twin, away from his two dear friends.

* * *

Xion saw the change that overcame the brunette, her gaze returned to him, she saw him smile slightly, raising a hand awkwardly in greeting before lowering it, "hey you two," he said. Xion's eyes widened, she saw a flash of gold and eyes a different shade of blue, she froze, rooted the spot, only dimly aware of Axel taking a step back behind her.

She knew it was impossible for it to be him but she knew it was impossible for it _not_ to be him and she didn't know what to believe except that there were two boys in front of her and one of them looked like her blonde and the other…

Was their target.

She smoothed her face, she did not particularly feel anything strong at the thought that he might be alive, and even if she did, she had a task to carry out, "what is this Sora?" she asked, intending to play it off as some acting on Sora's behalf. The brunette (blonde) shook his head, "not Sora, not anymore, it's me… Roxas," she rose an eyebrow, "and how is it you? We were told you were killed in the process of bringing Sora back to life," the (her) boy shook his head hopelessly, "well I, uh, wasn't? I don't really know why but… I mean… my body _was_ destroyed but my soul just… attached itself… to… Sora's… body…" she watched as his voice faded, he seemed to realise how unbelievable what he was saying sounded (she believed it).

She stood silently, waiting for him to say something else before realising he was waiting also, but she didn't _know_ what to say. It was far enough down the hill that there were no cameras, if she so felt like it, she could let them go, there was no need for her to say anything.

But she had a duty.

If he was still alive it meant there were things about the situation she did not know, surely for now she should let them go, at least so that she could reconsider her plans and such.

Whether or not he was alive shouldn't change anything.

They could go after them another time, if she let them go now there was no need for her to say anything, she could let both (all three) of them go; surely they could pursue them another time?

What about Axel?

And so her thoughts went, moving backwards and forwards and she couldn't make any decisions other than the one that, if she could feel, she would dislike the indecision very much.

They were still waiting and she was still not speaking, "using fire magic in a forest would be dangerous," Xion's eyes widened and she turned to Axel, he wasn't looking at her.

She nodded, "quite right, if you were to use your power the whole forest would burn down, we need to be very discreet and not draw attention to ourselves, as for me, without Axel's fire I'm afraid we'd be somewhat equal," she turned back to the two boys as she said this.

The decision had been made.

And she knew that this was the preferred one.

"I suppose we'll have to let you go this time," she said, "since there's nothing we can really do," she gave them a warning look, "but you had better turn right around, it wouldn't do for our target to be… killed by… bears," Xion wasn't actually sure if there _were_ bears in a forest, she glanced over at Axel who gave a slight shrug, "you both…" she turned towards the soft sound of his voice.

She could see the look she was giving them both and she almost wanted to smile, he didn't want to run off without them, despite everything, he didn't want to leave them behind.

She stood with Axel and the two watched as Ven grabbed his twin and ran off, dragging the other boy behind him.

She turned to Axel, "how about we go back," the red head offered, and Xion nodded, following him, "such an uneventful evening," she said idly, "I wonder if anything will happen back at the castle?" she saw Axel nod and give a slight smirk at her words.

She raised a hand and allowed light to grow from it, spilling into the darkness, she looked around at it all, feeling a stirring in her chest.

The light was still there.

* * *

Roxas followed Ven blindly, letting his older twin lead him, his thoughts were focused on their encounter, "they let us go," he whispered. Ven paused and looked back at him, seeing Roxas' expression he sighed, stepping forward and hugging the boy, "yeah, they did, I don't know why they're the way they are, but they're still your friends, they're still inside there I think," Roxas looked up at his brother uncertainly, "really?" he whispered hopefully, Ven smiled and nodded, "well, I don't think they would have done what they did if they weren't, do you?"

Roxas shook his head and it was like a dam had broken, all the private concerns and worries, all the times he had wondered if they could really reverse what had happened, the secret horror that maybe they couldn't. It drained out of him, and he leaned against Ven and sighed, scrunching his eyes up in relief, he had never wanted to lose his friends, and now, for the first time he believed.

He believed that he could get them back.

* * *

Ven walked with his brother back home, part of him wondered when Sora would take control again, and part of him guiltily hoped that he would let Roxas stay for a bit, so that they could have a little longer together.

He glanced at his younger twin, Roxas was walking beside him, looking at the ground with a small smile on his face, Ven wondered about that, but didn't say anything, instead, he reached over and wrapped his arm around the other boy in a hug, "let's go back," he said with a smile and Roxas nodded, pausing for a moment, "but what about the girls? Aren't they going to wonder where we were? Or, in a best case scenario, why we went to bed so early?"

Ven thought for a moment, secretly pleased that Roxas was relying on him, feeling like a proper older brother again, _'because you've failed every other time so far,'_ he ignored the thought, "well…" he began slowly, "I suppose if it's only asking about why we went to bed so early, meaning they'd be asking us tomorrow morning… we'd just say that we were really tired," he shrugged, expressing his thoughts on the simplicity of the answer, "and if they noticed we were gone… I…" he frowned, "I couldn't get to sleep, I decided to go for a little walk around the place, maybe have a look at one or two things while it was still light, you decided to come with me since neither of us had ever been to Radian Gardens before and stuff, how does that sound?" he glanced at Roxas, giving him a smile, the smile was returned, albeit uncertainly.

* * *

Roxas walked up to the front door with Ven next to him, he cast a glance in his brother's direction before taking the lead and opening the door, he slipped in with Ven close behind; the excuse Ven had suggested was already on the tip of his tongue, but his words died away when he saw that no one was around.

He turned to his brother and frowned, raising an eyebrow in question only to receive a shrug in response; Roxas considered simply going to the room the two of them were sleeping in, taking advantage of the girl's sudden disappearance to avoid awkward questions. But he had a feeling that they weren't just in another part of the house, there was a sense of quiet that gave of a deserted feel.

With a shrug he started checking each of the rooms, opening doors and poking his head in, before shutting the door once more. His quick search confirmed his suspicions.

No one was home.

He walked over to the front door and checked to see if they were maybe someone nearby outside, but he couldn't see anyone. The sun had started going down now and he glanced at the clock, _'it stays bright for quite some time here,'_ the boy thought to himself idly.

"Do you think they went out looking for us?" he asked guiltily, turning to the older blonde with a frown, Ven bit his lip, "I think… they could have," he replied, speaking carefully, "but if that's the case, they'll be back soon," Roxas sighed unhappily, "still, it seems a little mean, what if they're really worried about us right now?"

* * *

None of them spoke for some minutes after Xion and Axel had gone, Atsuko stared at the place they had been, whatever she had been expecting. It wasn't that.

It was Yuri who broke the stunned silence, "oh wow, okay then, that was… unexpected," Atsuko turned to Aya with a small frown, "it's him, isn't it? When I first saw him at school I wondered," Aya nodded and Atsuko continued, speaking as though maybe saying it aloud would help her to understand it, "they have magic," she said softly, "just like-" "I know," the taller girl interrupted, "I was standing here, I was watching," her voice grew softer, "I saw it."

Atsuko frowned, but remained silent, and they stood together in the forest, each thinking their own thoughts until- once again- Yuri spoke, "well," she began conversationally, "I guess this is a bit more a fantasy story than horror."

* * *

**Hmm... I wonder how the girls weren't discovered? Is there a reason? Do one of them have powers that can do something like that? Actually not really, it happened because of plot development and important things. Yeah.**

**I don't have anything else to say about this.**

**Review please! Let me know what you thought.**


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